[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Dimensional Rift Detected
[color= orange]Arc ID:[/color] 13685
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @EnderXncdr/Killohurtz
Difficulty Level: High. (No AVs or EBs, but there are debuffs.)
Synopsis: A rift opened up in Peregrine Island, and you are asked to investigate. Custom Critters only. Goes into Superdudes lore and yet, is part of canon. (http://www.superdudes.net)
Estimated Time to Play: About 30 minutes to an hour. First Mission is Defeat All. Second Mission is Defeat Bosses.
[/ QUOTE ]
[/ QUOTE ]
Okay, this was already rated low when I grabbed it. Let's see:
- Warning at the very description about difficulty may be nice.
- I ran this with a DM/Inv Scrapper on Unyielding - a certified badass who can run the RWZ challenge in her sleep.
- I like the talking style of the contact. Give it personality it does, hmmm.
Mission 1:
- Debuffs: There are debuffs that kill, and debuffs that annoy (and some that do both). -SPD (movement -SPD specially) belongs to the latter category. You may want to throw some mobs into the mix that don't do -SPD. On top of that there seems to be some confuses, and blinding. It's not so much a nasty mix as an irritating one.
- "Those affiliated with Fear, an Agent of Decay, feed off of those suffering from fear and anguish." - Maybe change the last "fear" for "terror" or some other word, so that it doesn't sound so redundant 
- "Those affiliated with Apathy, an Agent of Decay, live off of the arrogance and disarray of people in general(comma) and exploit when necessary." Suggested place for a comma, in bold 
- The costumes are... Well, the fact that they're very similar is easily explained because it's a military faction (for what I've read so far), but it doesn't look very military, which kinda makes the similarities stand out more. May be just personal taste tho, the costume theme itself is quite good.
- "The Officer of Fear before he melted into a pile of goo..." Seems like there's something missing, like "officer of fear's last words, before he blah blah" or something like that.
- It felt a bit... lifeless. Dunno, what about throwing in some more flavour? A couple of patrols with some quirky lines or some hostage (non-leading please!) that got caught and didn't escape. Dunno, or some more lines for the placed bosses maybe. A couple of clues to show the progress? I'm sure there's still a lot of placeables available there.
Mission 2:
- Hooo-kay, honking big map with 12 bosses to defeat. I'm betting the low ratings quit just about here, probably.
- Bosses with Hibernate: Heh, hehehe. I wonder how many people can't put the damage output to beat its recharge time. Specially with Hoarfrost.
- Anyway, as this is a flying scrapper, I made a bind /bind x targetcustomnext Officer and hunted only the bosses.
- Terrorize is funny, so few things that resist it.
- Lots of confuse as well, which in reality doesn't make that much difference over terrorize when solo.
- Also, the "of Fear" mobs are exceedingly hard to see in this map, and I'm not talking about perception
- Much blindness. I come equipped with +perception, but it's far from common in PvE.
- It's curious to see the amount of influence these bosses give... 28k each, I'm guessing they're all set to extreme?
- All the bosses say the same - and it's just like 2 lines per boss. Bit more spicing perhaps? These guys feel less lively than the Nemesis Automatons.
- How are they keeping the Rift open anyway? I'd suggest throwing in some flavour optional glowies or something.
- To echo the mission's own text: I'm betting this mission did a number on your ratings
- I think I used about a dozen inspirations in this map, been a while since I needed those!
And suddenly... poof! That's it!
Well, there was a bit of a paper-thin plot there, but felt a bit too generic. There wasn't enough done to flesh out the faction and give them a bit of personality.
I gave you three stars, because I appreciate what you were building here. The minuses:
First there was no warning about the difficulty, which I think for this kind of arc it's a must - and I mean in-game.
Second, I don't really think the powerset selection for the enemies is well selected. One should strive to create a balance between different kinds of challenges, so that as many people as possible feel there is some challenge for their particular weak spot. Instead, you're hammering the players with the same debuffs, and chosen the ones that are all around less resisted. I got nailed for over 1k damage of Psi damage a couple of times - that was good! But the constant stacked tar patches, and being confused about 4 times per group made it tedious; then some of the bosses terrorized, which at the end meant I got off one attack every 30s or so on those bosses, enough to kill them and not a problem with my scrapper's hysterical susvivability, but not particularly entertaining.
Third, I dread to see what this thing will be like in a big team. I actually think it'll become harder, not easier. I'm not sure the minions too need to be debuffing like they do. Sticking to an attack powerset with a debuff attached (like rad blast or dark blast, like they already do) and not a dedicated debuffing secondary should be more than enough.
And lastly, it really needs some more work on the plot and the faction. You did great giving Killo a personality of his own, I'm sure you can do better with the enemies too.
Of course, this is all coming from the perspective of "trying to rate it all". For a particular challenge point of view, it's good at what it does, although perhaps too specific - always the same debuffs/status. You've made a niche arc that may appeal strongly in that niche (although even there I think you'll find objections to the amount of boss fights in the big outdoors map - you can always run it again!), I think you should start by advertising it as such in-game, not just here in the forum
[/ QUOTE ]
Anyway, my brand new arc:
Arc Name: Of_Mentors_and_Legacy (waiting for a fix on the spaces >_<
[color= orange]Arc ID:[/color] 14843
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Aliana Blue/Aliana_Blue
Difficulty Level: Medium-Rare. I kid, there're many bosses but most are optional. AV warning! The last mission has AVs, but it can be almost autocompleted at the lower difficulties (because the NPC helpers are such badasses, if you care and feed them).
Synopsis: A testing of a simulation designed to train heroes against a new Freakshow weapon turns into a little surprise.
Estimated Time to Play: 20-60 minutes, depending on how much you ignore the side objectives. Not a single defeat all in there. Going straight for objectives you can probably knock it off under half an hour.
Players' Choice Awards: Best Dual-Origin Level Range Arc!
It's a new era, the era of the Mission Architect. Can you save the Universe from...
The Invasion of the Bikini-clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space? - Arc ID 61013
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Dimensional Rift Detected
[color= orange]Arc ID:[/color] 13685
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @EnderXncdr/Killohurtz
Difficulty Level: High. (No AVs or EBs, but there are debuffs.)
Synopsis: A rift opened up in Peregrine Island, and you are asked to investigate. Custom Critters only. Goes into Superdudes lore and yet, is part of canon. (http://www.superdudes.net)
Estimated Time to Play: About 30 minutes to an hour. First Mission is Defeat All. Second Mission is Defeat Bosses.
[/ QUOTE ]
[/ QUOTE ]
Okay, this was already rated low when I grabbed it. Let's see:
- Warning at the very description about difficulty may be nice.
- I ran this with a DM/Inv Scrapper on Unyielding - a certified badass who can run the RWZ challenge in her sleep.
- I like the talking style of the contact. Give it personality it does, hmmm.
Mission 1:
- Debuffs: There are debuffs that kill, and debuffs that annoy (and some that do both). -SPD (movement -SPD specially) belongs to the latter category. You may want to throw some mobs into the mix that don't do -SPD. On top of that there seems to be some confuses, and blinding. It's not so much a nasty mix as an irritating one.
- "Those affiliated with Fear, an Agent of Decay, feed off of those suffering from fear and anguish." - Maybe change the last "fear" for "terror" or some other word, so that it doesn't sound so redundant
- "Those affiliated with Apathy, an Agent of Decay, live off of the arrogance and disarray of people in general(comma) and exploit when necessary." Suggested place for a comma, in bold
- The costumes are... Well, the fact that they're very similar is easily explained because it's a military faction (for what I've read so far), but it doesn't look very military, which kinda makes the similarities stand out more. May be just personal taste tho, the costume theme itself is quite good.
- "The Officer of Fear before he melted into a pile of goo..." Seems like there's something missing, like "officer of fear's last words, before he blah blah" or something like that.
- It felt a bit... lifeless. Dunno, what about throwing in some more flavour? A couple of patrols with some quirky lines or some hostage (non-leading please!) that got caught and didn't escape. Dunno, or some more lines for the placed bosses maybe. A couple of clues to show the progress? I'm sure there's still a lot of placeables available there.
Mission 2:
- Hooo-kay, honking big map with 12 bosses to defeat. I'm betting the low ratings quit just about here, probably.
- Bosses with Hibernate: Heh, hehehe. I wonder how many people can't put the damage output to beat its recharge time. Specially with Hoarfrost.
- Anyway, as this is a flying scrapper, I made a bind /bind x targetcustomnext Officer and hunted only the bosses.
- Terrorize is funny, so few things that resist it.
- Lots of confuse as well, which in reality doesn't make that much difference over terrorize when solo.
- Also, the "of Fear" mobs are exceedingly hard to see in this map, and I'm not talking about perception
- Much blindness. I come equipped with +perception, but it's far from common in PvE.
- It's curious to see the amount of influence these bosses give... 28k each, I'm guessing they're all set to extreme?
- All the bosses say the same - and it's just like 2 lines per boss. Bit more spicing perhaps? These guys feel less lively than the Nemesis Automatons.
- How are they keeping the Rift open anyway? I'd suggest throwing in some flavour optional glowies or something.
- To echo the mission's own text: I'm betting this mission did a number on your ratings
- I think I used about a dozen inspirations in this map, been a while since I needed those!
And suddenly... poof! That's it!
Well, there was a bit of a paper-thin plot there, but felt a bit too generic. There wasn't enough done to flesh out the faction and give them a bit of personality.
I gave you three stars, because I appreciate what you were building here. The minuses:
First there was no warning about the difficulty, which I think for this kind of arc it's a must - and I mean in-game.
Second, I don't really think the powerset selection for the enemies is well selected. One should strive to create a balance between different kinds of challenges, so that as many people as possible feel there is some challenge for their particular weak spot. Instead, you're hammering the players with the same debuffs, and chosen the ones that are all around less resisted. I got nailed for over 1k damage of Psi damage a couple of times - that was good! But the constant stacked tar patches, and being confused about 4 times per group made it tedious; then some of the bosses terrorized, which at the end meant I got off one attack every 30s or so on those bosses, enough to kill them and not a problem with my scrapper's hysterical susvivability, but not particularly entertaining.
Third, I dread to see what this thing will be like in a big team. I actually think it'll become harder, not easier. I'm not sure the minions too need to be debuffing like they do. Sticking to an attack powerset with a debuff attached (like rad blast or dark blast, like they already do) and not a dedicated debuffing secondary should be more than enough.
And lastly, it really needs some more work on the plot and the faction. You did great giving Killo a personality of his own, I'm sure you can do better with the enemies too.
Of course, this is all coming from the perspective of "trying to rate it all". For a particular challenge point of view, it's good at what it does, although perhaps too specific - always the same debuffs/status. You've made a niche arc that may appeal strongly in that niche (although even there I think you'll find objections to the amount of boss fights in the big outdoors map - you can always run it again!), I think you should start by advertising it as such in-game, not just here in the forum
[/ QUOTE ]
Anyway, my brand new arc:
Arc Name: Of_Mentors_and_Legacy (waiting for a fix on the spaces >_<
[color= orange]Arc ID:[/color] 14843
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Aliana Blue/Aliana_Blue
Difficulty Level: Medium-Rare. I kid, there're many bosses but most are optional. AV warning! The last mission has AVs, but it can be almost autocompleted at the lower difficulties (because the NPC helpers are such badasses, if you care and feed them).
Synopsis: A testing of a simulation designed to train heroes against a new Freakshow weapon turns into a little surprise.
Estimated Time to Play: 20-60 minutes, depending on how much you ignore the side objectives. Not a single defeat all in there. Going straight for objectives you can probably knock it off under half an hour.
[/ QUOTE ]
Now THAT is what I was looking for. Awesome.
Notes:
The minions that do a LOT of debuffing are ACTUALLY on Standard, and yes the Bosses are on Extreme, except Officer of Apathy, which if it was, would have Energy Transfer, which hurts like a mother...
To be honest, I switched between a smaller map to a larger map in order to space out the groups. If a smaller map would make it easier, then will do.
I will give it a bit more spice. Gonna Unpublish it for now, so that some poor unknowing kid doesn't play it and get reamed.
The only problem I am going to run into is space. I am at 99.98%. NOT kidding. I guess I can cut back a little on the minions and lieutenants to add it more flavor. And I guess I could do a bit more explanation as to who Decay is, and the minions themselves. And I will place a disclaimer to the difficulty of the mission. I thought I did, but it ain't loading in there. Hmm.
(QR)
Gonna go through this thread and see about running through some of these arcs. Some sound very interesting.
I do really, really, really need feedback on my arc though. Badly. I think it's more or less in its final stage, but I would love some thoughts on its story and atmosphere, or see if anyone spots any mistakes I missed (I keep finding them...). that kind of thing.
Arc Name: The Wretch's Gift
Arc ID: 14865
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Aisynia1 (on test) / Aisynia
Alignment: Neutral
Difficulty Level: Moderate. Enemies balanced to be challenging on Level 4 difficulty (played through with scrapper and blaster), but not overpowering. Several boss encounters, patrols, and battles. One AV at the end (downgraded to EB while solo), but you get some help.
Synopsis: Although it hurts to think about her, the Wretch is afraid for his sister Pia (Better known as Seer Marino), who has gone missing. Help the Wretch uncover a sinister plot involving the wayward Fortunata, save the universe, and just... perhaps... reunite a brother and sister, if only for a moment.
Number of missions: 5
Estimated Time to Play: I've completed it several times in around an hour, could take 2 if you do the optional objectives.
I'm only ladylike when compared to my sister.
[ QUOTE ]
Anyway, my brand new arc:
Arc Name: Of_Mentors_and_Legacy (waiting for a fix on the spaces >_<
[color= orange]Arc ID:[/color] 14843
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Aliana Blue/Aliana_Blue
Difficulty Level: Medium-Rare. I kid, there're many bosses but most are optional. AV warning! The last mission has AVs, but it can be almost autocompleted at the lower difficulties (because the NPC helpers are such badasses, if you care and feed them).
Synopsis: A testing of a simulation designed to train heroes against a new Freakshow weapon turns into a little surprise.
Estimated Time to Play: 20-60 minutes, depending on how much you ignore the side objectives. Not a single defeat all in there. Going straight for objectives you can probably knock it off under half an hour.
[/ QUOTE ]
Played through, took well over an hour. I don't see how this could ever be done in twenty minutes. I didn't rate, as it really doesn't seem to be in a finished state. Mission design was excellent and the general story was good, but suffered from clarity issues, which I will outline last.
First, minor issues with spelling, grammar, and clarity. There were more than I'm listing here, but I didn't note the ones that weren't really all that bad, just the really overt ones.
SPOILERS for Aliana's arc!!
<ul type="square">[*]The contact says "advert" instead of ad or advertisement. I've never heard someone actually say this, but it could be where I'm living. It sounds pretty awkward.
[*]In the first mission, the Demonbinder says "pleasure work with" and it seems as though it should be "pleasre to work with".
[*]The Blood Brother (who I never saw) says "I'm too good at this"... but it didn't make sense to me in context. Was it supposed to be "I'm not too good at this"?
[*]First mission return dialogue, you misspelled Interfere as "interfer". You did the same in Paelin's speech in the last mission.
[*]Also in the first mission end dialogue (I think), he says "hoping anomaly will" when it sounds like it should be "hoping the anomaly will".
[*]Beast Tamer Hakkene says "can't stand to me", I think you meant "can't stand up to me".
[*]Third mission intro text says "do any guesses", when it should probably be "make any guesses". It also says "for what you told me". "For" should likely be a "from".
[*]Edge's bio has some odd description at the end. It said something about "impervium resolve all thorough", which made no sense to me at all. Are you trying to say that Edge has an impervium-like resolve? I would leave thorough and throughout (what you probably meant) out of there personally (for simplicity's sake), but it's up to you.
[*]Clue: Mist's Rescue says "got in time", did you mean "got there in time"?
[*]The second letter says "went without a hitch". for clarity, you may wanna make it "went off without a hitch". It also says "extended control over..." It would probably be more clear if it said "extended their control".
[*]Clue: Edge's Fate needs some serious clarification. It left me fairly confused.
[*]Clue: Fall of the Circle says "Explained minutely" but it might be better to use "briefly". It also says "captures" instead of "captured". I make THAT mistake myself all the time. Dang D and S key being so close.
[*]Fourth mission end dialogue says "take over control", and it should be "take control", as the over is somewhat redundant, especially given the rest of the sentence.
[*]Final mission intro dialogue. you misspelled "Tina Macintyre" as "Tiny Macintyre". I'm sure she appreciates that 
"Where we should be sending you to" doesn't really need the "to" on the end. "For what you have told.." should also be "from what you have told..." About the nukes, I would make it either plural or singular, but keeping it as is, I would change "give it to you" to "give them to you".
[*]Final mission popup says "hiedout." May have more misspellings, I accidentally closed it too fast >.< Better check it
[*]Mist's dialogue in final mission "please find Phillip". I think, considering she's the mom, and she's going with you, it might be more appropriate to have her say "please help me find Phillip".
[*]Asoulx says "You date attack me!?" and I was like "I don't usually attack people on dates, not that I would date you"
[*]And the final mission return dialogue with the contact, he says "their gamesBut the. But the future...". I imagine this is a major, hardcore typo, and you meant "their games. But the future".[/list]
Ok, now on to the really serious stuff. The story itself is sound and interesting, but it has some major issues with clarity that I feel you need to work on. Maybe it was intentional, but it was kinda jarring.
<ul type="square">[*]When the contact starts helping you... there's a major lack of clarity as to why. He never really talks about his motivation. At the beginning of the mission he's like "restarting the simulation, hope it doesn't do that again!" However, he does an almost immediate flip in the other direction and is helping you triangulate everything, with no explanation whatsoever (that I saw) I think he should explain what's going on a bit better, letting the player know why he's helping them.
[*]The second mission's goals on the nav menu are extremely misleading. I don't know if this is on purpose, but it wasn't very fun. You had a bunch of guys named "Herd Leader", and so I assumed it would be one of those. Turns out, it was a guy off in some dark corner of the map who didn't have Leader in his name at all.
[*]Things just sort of happen in a whirlwind. There's no real indication or buildup that Paelin could, in fact, not be working in the best interests of these two parents. I had no idea he was going to make sure they died until the last possible moment, and even then, I had to read between the lines of the clues. I can understand wanting to surprise people, but in this case, I think you need to work on the buildup a little bit.
[*]I think the basics of the story are very solid, but the pacing seems a bit off. You need generally more buildup, and better communication with your contact so you have a clear view on the chain of events.[/list]
There you go. Fun story, but I feel it can be improved. I'm looking forward to a second draft
I'm only ladylike when compared to my sister.
((Spoilers ahead!))
Yo! Thanks for that. There seem to be a lot of missing words, which it's not a mistake I usually make! >_< (actually, it makes me a bit suspicious, I really don't eat up words like that, I do make silly foreigner spelling mistakes and misuse similar-looking words). Anyway, a few clarifications:
- At first the contact restarts the simulation just because you ask him to, I guess I should clarify it more (it's there in the return text for the first mission). When you do the 4th mission he's more than a bit miffed to find out the results of your efforts, so he's more than willing to help. I'll work on it.
- The backstabbing is supposed to be a surprise. The thing that should make you (the player) suspicious is the "everything's perfect, thanks!" from Paelin only to find out in mission 4... Well, Nemesis running the show - and then the 4 clues in there. Then he shows up in the last mission. If I could, I'd make him an ambush, but it's really not possible to have dialog, or an ambush where you get to pick the mobs. He's at the entry so as to "block" your retreat. Maybe I'll change the spawn point to "middle" - should be OK in that map.
- I'll definitely clarify the second (and third?) mission descriptions! Those are supposed to be flavour, not dragging.
- Also, for the 20 minutes: 1st mission is just a glowie click, second and third is rescue (non-escort) and defeat (second with a glowie), third's again glowies (4). You don't have to do any "real" combat until the last mission, and with those two in tow... Well, it goes fast (They did kick butt for you, right? I tweaked the AVs a bit and haven't tested thoroughly, but seemed to work fine on the two tests I ran). Maybe 20's a bit too little, but it's definitely doable in 30 without pushing it much, specially in Heroic.
EDIT: My suspicions are confirmed, nearly all the missing words have a:
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>&nbsp;&nbsp;</pre><hr />
(I.e., double html-ized whitespace) where the word was supposed to be. Something went missing between my cut and paste and what the game got >_<
No excuse tho, I should have noticed it, but damn!
EDIT AGAIN: Because I don't want to hijack the thread with more posts, I have edited the arc again:
- Fixed typos. Most of them I believe.
- Clarified the motivation for the contact: The idea is that he's mostly interested in learning about the anomaly so that he can block it, and somewhat interested in helping a hero who wants to do some good. Then by the end of the 4th mission he learns that all the effort you've put went to waste and, well, after helping you he IS kinda interested in those future heroes and their fates. And Nemesis taking over kinda pissed him. I hope it's clearer now, I added more dialog to the return/send off text.
- Missions 2 and 3 have both the boss names clearly stated, as well as the optional bosses (marked as (optional)) on the navbar.
- Added a big clue making a summary of what you find out in mission 4 - piercing the clues together in a story so to speak.
- Added dialog to the 5th mission, kind of "the Mender has betrayed us!", "The Mender stayed true to his word" and their ilk, and made a more explicit comment in the first AV defeat clue. Also, since Paelin is mandatory, made him spawn at the back. It _should_ make him spawn in the final room, it did so in my tests.
- Any more suggestions?
Players' Choice Awards: Best Dual-Origin Level Range Arc!
It's a new era, the era of the Mission Architect. Can you save the Universe from...
The Invasion of the Bikini-clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space? - Arc ID 61013
Them three, yes, they kick butt
I'm only ladylike when compared to my sister.
Okay, first off: If you're posting an arc without commenting on other's, you're breaking the chain of this thread - and its whole point! (not directed at you Aisynia, rather some of the posters above you ).
[ QUOTE ]
(QR)
Gonna go through this thread and see about running through some of these arcs. Some sound very interesting.
I do really, really, really need feedback on my arc though. Badly. I think it's more or less in its final stage, but I would love some thoughts on its story and atmosphere, or see if anyone spots any mistakes I missed (I keep finding them...). that kind of thing.
Arc Name: The Wretch's Gift
Arc ID: 14865
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Aisynia1 (on test) / Aisynia
Alignment: Neutral
Difficulty Level: Moderate. Enemies balanced to be challenging on Level 4 difficulty (played through with scrapper and blaster), but not overpowering. Several boss encounters, patrols, and battles. One AV at the end (downgraded to EB while solo), but you get some help.
Synopsis: Although it hurts to think about her, the Wretch is afraid for his sister Pia (Better known as Seer Marino), who has gone missing. Help the Wretch uncover a sinister plot involving the wayward Fortunata, save the universe, and just... perhaps... reunite a brother and sister, if only for a moment.
Number of missions: 5
Estimated Time to Play: I've completed it several times in around an hour, could take 2 if you do the optional objectives.
[/ QUOTE ]
Random comments:
Mission 1:
Hm, navbar is really really crowded. While the pun about the talky men is nice, maybe shortening the text up there would be a better idea
The NPC lines are pretty good!
Can't comment much else, it was pretty nice and a good setup. The first clue "they want to destroy the surveillance and the mainframe" (pharaphrasing because I've lost the clues as I completed ) seems like a bit... disjoined. It's like "omg, they'll destroy a computer!" So early in the arc all I could think was "Er, so what?". Throw in a bone or something on the player wanting to catch them and most having fled already or something? I.e., some sort of reason why that data is so important! I mean, if I lose the surveillance data there's no lack of punks in that base I can grab and torture for info
Mission 2:
Again, a really long mission title for the navbar.
Hows the NPCs distributed? I got massively spammed by blue text as soon as I walked in into the mission, can you place some patrols to "back" or "middle" or are those spots taken? I suppose it could be the massive activation radius that battles seem to have right now...
Typo: [NPC] Ice Thorn Caster: You will rue the day you tresspassed upon our city, you fool!
Eimyrha's final words: Do you actually have to "kill" her? We generally "defeat" things when explicity talking about it in-game, but up to you I guess
Both glowies give the same "You have found Book Two of the Ritual of Alka'Ta." system message. Which is disconcerting at first until you pick the right clue.
Like... totally.
Mission 3:
The navbar... Well, nevermind by now
I like the optional objectives! If only there was a way to get the contact to react differently depending on whether we complete side objectives or not...
[NPC] Crey Voltaic Tank: What!? Did you call them here as backup!? -> looks like a good place to put a $himher!
Mission 4:
After all the great lines, this mission felt a bit lifeless... What about some lines for the battles related to what Wretch did to make them fight?
Did you have a bout of royalness when writting the "The Nihilist Directive Pt. 4" clue? It's written in royal "we"
Mission 5:
[NPC] Nihilist Gunner: It's them! You've gotta be kidding me! -> Another place for $himher?
Maybe you should not assume that Wretch is with the player when Marino's rescued... In my case he wasn't, he couldn't keep up with the flying scrapper ^_^ I think it's easy enough to tweak the text to be a bit more neutral.
You didn't close the " in Marino's clue.
The great lines are back!
---------
So, overall impression is that the arc's very good.
There is enough self-spoofing humor to make the McGuffin cool.
You pulled the "incompetent bad guys who somehow manage to threaten the world" pretty well, with some humorous "No, the UNIVERSE!!" thrown in for good measure
Wretch is well written. Maybe change the font a bit on the [] stuff? Minor, may actually make it less readable, but maybe give it a spin to see what happens (colour or italics or something).
Overall very enjoyable, couple of suggestions up there, but it was a very well done job!
Also: Not commenting on difficulty, I was at 4 on my scrapper and plowed through everything, as she usually does
Gave you a 5 ^_^
Players' Choice Awards: Best Dual-Origin Level Range Arc!
It's a new era, the era of the Mission Architect. Can you save the Universe from...
The Invasion of the Bikini-clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space? - Arc ID 61013
Anyway, as to not break the chain, I shall post a new arc:
Arc Name: Jumping in feet first.
Arc ID: 8562
Creator IDs: @Aliana Blue/Aliana_Blue
Alignment: Heroic.
Difficulty: Easy! Low level arc (really, 1-9, beginner stuff).
Synopsis. Classifieds: Welcome to Paragon! Where evildoers are so abundant we send heroes to fight them as soon as they have stamped their shiny new ID badge.
Number of Missions: 3
Length: I'd be surprised if you can't knock this off in 10-15 minutes.
I'm breaking protocol by posting so quick after I posted too, but hey, that last request had been sitting there for a while and nobody was taking it! Get on with the show peeps, comment and get commented!
EDIT: Hm, I just noticed that noone has commented on NeverDark's arc.
If you're reading this, scroll up! NeverDark's arc's way before mine!
Players' Choice Awards: Best Dual-Origin Level Range Arc!
It's a new era, the era of the Mission Architect. Can you save the Universe from...
The Invasion of the Bikini-clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space? - Arc ID 61013
[ QUOTE ]
Can't comment much else, it was pretty nice and a good setup. The first clue "they want to destroy the surveillance and the mainframe" (pharaphrasing because I've lost the clues as I completed ) seems like a bit... disjoined. It's like "omg, they'll destroy a computer!" So early in the arc all I could think was "Er, so what?". Throw in a bone or something on the player wanting to catch them and most having fled already or something? I.e., some sort of reason why that data is so important! I mean, if I lose the surveillance data there's no lack of punks in that base I can grab and torture for info
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, that was difficult to put in. Basically, it's explained in the clue dropped by Jackson (though not well enough, because of the space limit). Here's the clue:
According to this Data Cube, these people are called the Nihilists, and they want to wipe out all life in the universe! Including you! They plan on hacking the base surveillance system, then destroying the database! If they aren't stopped, it might be impossible to track them down!
The basic idea is that these guys are still here because they're the clean up crew. They came by to wipe out all record of their raid. Ghost Widow and Wretch thought they were already gone. I guess I didn't think about the "lol just beat one 'til he talks" thing, but really... I suppose you could also say it's hard to torture an emo idiot who wants to kill himself and everyone else in the entire universe If that's my biggest plot hole, I'll be happy
[ QUOTE ]
Hows the NPCs distributed? I got massively spammed by blue text as soon as I walked in into the mission, can you place some patrols to "back" or "middle" or are those spots taken? I suppose it could be the massive activation radius that battles seem to have right now...
[/ QUOTE ]
I haven't run into that personally, and I've done it a few times. I will say, however, that coT maps in general seem pretty wonky. I went through 3 maps before deciding on that one, because half the time, my objectives wouldn't even show up 
[ QUOTE ]
Typo: [NPC] Ice Thorn Caster: You will rue the day you tresspassed upon our city, you fool!
[/ QUOTE ] Whoops. Fixed
[ QUOTE ]
Eimyrha's final words: Do you actually have to "kill" her? We generally "defeat" things when explicity talking about it in-game, but up to you I guess
[/ QUOTE ]
She's an immortal minor goddess. She isn't going down unless it's all the way, but being what she is, it isn't permanent
[ QUOTE ]
Both glowies give the same "You have found Book Two of the Ritual of Alka'Ta." system message. Which is disconcerting at first until you pick the right clue.
[/ QUOTE ] Whoops, fixed. They're both necessary, I just had the wrong text.
[ QUOTE ]
Like... totally.
[/ QUOTE ]
Like, totally!
[ QUOTE ]
Mission 3:
The navbar... Well, nevermind by now
[/ QUOTE ]
I know, I know! Honestly, it doesn't bug me. It's a bit crowded, I admit, but I've seen worse from the devs
[ QUOTE ]
I like the optional objectives! If only there was a way to get the contact to react differently depending on whether we complete side objectives or not...
[/ QUOTE ]
*sigh* wouldn't that be great?
[ QUOTE ]
[NPC] Crey Voltaic Tank: What!? Did you call them here as backup!? -> looks like a good place to put a $himher!
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah it does. But it kept not working Seriously, I don't know why, since it worked for an ally in the last mission.
[ QUOTE ]
Mission 4:
After all the great lines, this mission felt a bit lifeless... What about some lines for the battles related to what Wretch did to make them fight?
[/ QUOTE ]
Space. This arc is 99.97%. I cannot fit any more. I was forced to take stuff out of this arc. I agree, it sucks. I wanted to put a lot more dialogue in this mission, but I just could not. :|
[ QUOTE ]
Did you have a bout of royalness when writting the "The Nihilist Directive Pt. 4" clue? It's written in royal "we"
[/ QUOTE ]
.... hmm.. damn. See, I also mod Oblivion, and when you write the quest journal in that game, you use first person. "I did this, I did that." And I was looking at it from that perspective, including Wretch in there with the player, making it a we. I will change that. Thanks for the heads up.
[ QUOTE ]
Mission 5:
[NPC] Nihilist Gunner: It's them! You've gotta be kidding me! -> Another place for $himher?
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, wasn't working.
[ QUOTE ]
Maybe you should not assume that Wretch is with the player when Marino's rescued... In my case he wasn't, he couldn't keep up with the flying scrapper ^_^ I think it's easy enough to tweak the text to be a bit more neutral.
[/ QUOTE ]
What!? No leave Wretch behind! Wretch sad! Where best friend!?
[ QUOTE ]
You didn't close the " in Marino's clue.
[/ QUOTE ]
Whoops
[ QUOTE ]
The great lines are back!
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, Mission 4 was kinda dead due to space. I had to cut stuff out. I cut an entire mob type out and still ran into the wall.
[ QUOTE ]
So, overall impression is that the arc's very good.
There is enough self-spoofing humor to make the McGuffin cool.
You pulled the "incompetent bad guys who somehow manage to threaten the world" pretty well, with some humorous "No, the UNIVERSE!!" thrown in for good measure
[/ QUOTE ]
<3
[ QUOTE ]
Wretch is well written. Maybe change the font a bit on the [] stuff? Minor, may actually make it less readable, but maybe give it a spin to see what happens (colour or italics or something).
[/ QUOTE ]
I was going to do this as a final touch up, but as it stands, I can barely write five words without hitting 100% file size. :|
[ QUOTE ]
Overall very enjoyable, couple of suggestions up there, but it was a very well done job!
Also: Not commenting on difficulty, I was at 4 on my scrapper and plowed through everything, as she usually does
Gave you a 5 ^_^
[/ QUOTE ]
I appreciate your feedback and the rating. I will strongly consider rewording the clue in the first mission, and I changed all the lil' typos. Some stuff, I simply can't do because of space.. it sucks 
EDIT: After all the fixed, I'm at 99.98%
I'm only ladylike when compared to my sister.
[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Jumping in feet first.
Arc ID: 8562
Creator IDs: @Aliana Blue/Aliana_Blue
Alignment: Heroic.
Difficulty: Easy! Low level arc (really, 1-9, beginner stuff).
Synopsis. Classifieds: Welcome to Paragon! Where evildoers are so abundant we send heroes to fight them as soon as they have stamped their shiny new ID badge.
Number of Missions: 3
Length: I'd be surprised if you can't knock this off in 10-15 minutes.
[/ QUOTE ]
Just finished this one. Very good, like the custom characters you did. Has a few of the blank pops that are all over most arcs. It took me a while to find the glowie in the second mish. Nice job!
Here is mine!
Arc Name: Have a Blap, Blap, Blappy Day Kids!
Arc ID: 13938
Creator Global Name: @Wrong Number
Difficulty Level: Medium
Synopsis: Beloved kids TV show host Blappy is missing and the police are assuming the worse. Should anything happen to Blappy the kids of Paragon City will be heartbroken. You need to find her as quickly as possible before words leaks out that she is missing.
Mission Count: 4
Estimated Time to Play: 30-60 minutes
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Have a Blap, Blap, Blappy Day Kids!
Arc ID: 13938
Creator Global Name: @Wrong Number
Difficulty Level: Medium
Synopsis: Beloved kids TV show host Blappy is missing and the police are assuming the worse. Should anything happen to Blappy the kids of Paragon City will be heartbroken. You need to find her as quickly as possible before words leaks out that she is missing.
Mission Count: 4
Estimated Time to Play: 30-60 minutes
[/ QUOTE ]
Note: Ran this arc as a lv 50 eng/dev blaster on the second difficulty level
*Heh, I like the contact you chose, very appropriate!
*The first nav task doesn't have any custom text, I don't know if that was intended or not
*What are they doing in the video the player finds? (Do I want to know? 
)
*Heh, I like the first boss's hair and he's got good dialogue
*No special bios for thugs or slingers in the second mish
*In Bright Angel's bio, do you mean to say 15%?
*I like Bright Angel's comment
*Junkyard Dog's got a case of <All custom Characters>
*I liked the powers of the enemies in the second mission
*I must say, seeing the bright purple light in the distance when I entered the third mish really caught my attention
*Btw, I'm writing these comments as I go throught the arc... at this point I'm curious as to what's going on in this story and where its going (curious in a good way, mind you!)
*Yeah, I like Bright Angel, lol
*Sis Ba Boom's also got a case of <all custom characters>, cool dialogue though and nice ambush
* -_- Alright, that's a nice twist before the fourth mission
*Sideshow Sally ---> <All custom characters>
*I like Sideshow Sally's bio! Ditto for wrong number (all custom, btw)!
*Blappy's fans compliment blappy well and its a pretty cool fight, though it would've been nice if Blappy spawned as higher than a boss for me
Overall I enjoyed the arc, it had a fun story and dialogue. Though I have to wonder now, (spoiler: what did Nemesis have to do with the plot? I mean, why were they in the first mission?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Here's my arc
[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Return of the Kings
Enemy Group: "The New Kings"
Description: A new super-powered gang calling itself "The New Kings" has recently moved into Kings Row and begun to wreck havoc. Its up to you to investigate their criminal operations and put an end to this new threat.
Challenge: Challenging enough to work up an e-sweat
Morality: Heroic
Length: 5 missions--- about 30 minutes to an hour
Author: @Epoch6 (Test Server), @Flying Carcass (Live Servers)
#15593
"Return of the Kings" Preview
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Have a Blap, Blap, Blappy Day Kids!
Arc ID: 13938
Creator Global Name: @Wrong Number
Difficulty Level: Medium
Synopsis: Beloved kids TV show host Blappy is missing and the police are assuming the worse. Should anything happen to Blappy the kids of Paragon City will be heartbroken. You need to find her as quickly as possible before words leaks out that she is missing.
Mission Count: 4
Estimated Time to Play: 30-60 minutes
[/ QUOTE ]
Note: Ran this arc as a lv 50 eng/dev blaster on the second difficulty level
*Heh, I like the contact you chose, very appropriate!
*The first nav task doesn't have any custom text, I don't know if that was intended or not
*What are they doing in the video the player finds? (Do I want to know? )
*Heh, I like the first boss's hair and he's got good dialogue
*No special bios for thugs or slingers in the second mish
*In Bright Angel's bio, do you mean to say 15%?
*I like Bright Angel's comment
*Junkyard Dog's got a case of <All custom Characters>
*I liked the powers of the enemies in the second mission
*I must say, seeing the bright purple light in the distance when I entered the third mish really caught my attention
*Btw, I'm writing these comments as I go throught the arc... at this point I'm curious as to what's going on in this story and where its going (curious in a good way, mind you!)
*Yeah, I like Bright Angel, lol
*Sis Ba Boom's also got a case of <all custom characters>, cool dialogue though and nice ambush
* -_- Alright, that's a nice twist before the fourth mission
*Sideshow Sally ---> <All custom characters>
*I like Sideshow Sally's bio! Ditto for wrong number (all custom, btw)!
*Blappy's fans compliment blappy well and its a pretty cool fight, though it would've been nice if Blappy spawned as higher than a boss for me
Overall I enjoyed the arc, it had a fun story and dialogue. Though I have to wonder now, (spoiler: what did Nemesis have to do with the plot? I mean, why were they in the first mission?
[/ QUOTE ]
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for running it.
The all Custom Character thing is a bug that comes and goes. That's not how they are set in MA or in the My Characters section or for that matter how they used to appear, but this bug seems to keep springing up.
As for what is on the DVD I left that up to people's imagination mainly because I did not want to tip off too much too early.
You are right, I should add custom bios for the Thugs, Slingers, etc.
The 15% thing I have fixed several times and the % sign keeps disappearing. I was able to fix it by spelling out percentage in Bright Angel?'s bio so I need to fix that there too.
As to your spoiler question....I had planned another custom group, but my Story arc is at over 99% already. So I figured I would use it as a punchline (see the contact's comment when you return from that mish).
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Return of the Kings
Enemy Group: "The New Kings"
Description: A new super-powered gang calling itself "The New Kings" has recently moved into Kings Row and begun to wreck havoc. Its up to you to investigate their criminal operations and put an end to this new threat.
Challenge: Challenging enough to work up an e-sweat
Morality: Heroic
Length: 5 missions--- about 30 minutes to an hour
Author: @Epoch6 (Test Server), @Flying Carcass (Live Servers)
#15593
"Return of the Kings" Preview
[/ QUOTE ]
Just finished running the arc. Decent story, and a nice enemy group. There were an awful lot of AVs (downgraded to EBs for me), if it were me I'd save the AVs for the final mission, and make the rest of them unique bosses or EBs at most. Also, it looks like the only lieutenant in the New Kings is the Electric wrangler; you might want to make a new enemy, or upgrade a minion to add some more variety. On thing I though was weird, none of your glowies have any system or progress bar text. Finally, the title for mission 4 would probably work better as the Accept text.
Anyway, that's all the things worth commenting on I noticed.
I don't really have a new arc I want real feedback on, so I'll just repost my arc from earlier in the thread.
Arc Name: A Hero's Halo
Arc ID: 8150
Faction: Marauder's Praetorians, Rularuu
Creator Global Name: @Vanden
Difficulty Level: Medium-Hard
Synopsis: I bet you think that halo you picked up in Pocket D last winter event is pretty cool, huh? Well, maybe you shouldn't be so trusting of things from the Shadow Shard...
Mission Count: 3
Estimated Time to Play: About one hour
It's changed a bit since I first posted it in this thread. If you like it, please post in the feedback thread linked in my sig or this post so more people can find it!
Issue 16 made me feel like this.
Warning: This poster likes to play Devil's Advocate.
Hey, thanks for checking my arc out! I hope you had fun!
In response to your comment about the multiple AVs/EBs; I think its a matter of preferance when it comes to them, I happen to really enjoy AVs/EBs and wanted to have a few scattered through the arc to add some flavor and challenge to the arc. But I think you'd agree that they're reasonably designed (I.E. not 1-shot wonders or unkillable monstrosities).
[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Return of the Kings
Enemy Group: "The New Kings"
Description: A new super-powered gang calling itself "The New Kings" has recently moved into Kings Row and begun to wreck havoc. Its up to you to investigate their criminal operations and put an end to this new threat.
Challenge: Challenging enough to work up an e-sweat
Morality: Heroic
Length: 5 missions--- about 30 minutes to an hour
Author: @Epoch6 (Test Server), @Flying Carcass (Live Servers)
#15593
"Return of the Kings" Preview
[/ QUOTE ]
[/ QUOTE ]
Also tried this one. Liked it a lot, good story though I have to agree with the EB amount, it'd probably be fairly tough on higher difficulties, not that it's a bad thing I would also agree on adding a bit more variety but the custom enemies were pretty neat.
Here's my arc:
Arc Name: Twisting Time
Arc ID: 15528
Faction: Neutral
Creator Global/Forum Name: @BlackSkull
Difficulty Level: Hard on higher difficulties
Contains some custom characters
Synopsis:
It's fairly story heavy so you get a pretty good explanation as you play, has to do with time travel, but the title kinda gives that away.
Spent the better part of 2 days tweaking this one so any feedback would be appreciated
This arc has been like my baby for the last....5 days off and on :P
Arc Name:Saving the Virtual World
Arc ID:14377
Faction:heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name:Player99
Difficulty Level:medium (up for debate :P)
Synopsis:
The virtual-reality of the HERO program, a computer technology that can "download" attributes onto living beings via entering it, is being compromised by the evil native being called Y2X, who shows viral-like properties.
How did it get past the powerful firewalls, and what does it want with the HERO program sepcifically?
Play to find out!
Features
All custom baddies and optional "Natives" to rescue, and fight by your side!
4 missions of scaling difficulty (gets harder as you go on)
Boss battle
Estimated Time to Play: about an hour
tell me what you think
Alright, I've done some tinkering, and I've re-published my original arc, The Golden Rule. Here's the updated info.
"The Golden Rule"
Arc ID 16207
Length: Very Long (5 missions long, most missions are stealthable if you wish to do so)
Morality: Villainous
Description: A group of local Gold Brickers is becoming powerful quite rapidly, and a Council Galaxy Archon hires you to find out why.
Reviewing all the dialogue now, for mission one, I realize that something happened during the development of mission 1 to make the computer section totally obsolete. I'm trying to rework the mission so that they make sense again
EDIT: Ok, I did a significant update to the first mission, hopefully it flows better. If anyone wants to check out my arc, by all means, feel free
Also made the final boss spawn more difficult.
I'm only ladylike when compared to my sister.
[ QUOTE ]
Here's my arc:
Arc Name: Twisting Time
Arc ID: 15528
Faction: Neutral
Creator Global/Forum Name: @BlackSkull
Difficulty Level: Hard on higher difficulties
Contains some custom characters
Synopsis:
It's fairly story heavy so you get a pretty good explanation as you play, has to do with time travel, but the title kinda gives that away.
Spent the better part of 2 days tweaking this one so any feedback would be appreciated
[/ QUOTE ]
Just gave this a run through solo on Heroic. I noted down some of the typos I noticed and general comments.
---- Possible spoilers after this line
Mission 1:
No spelling errors, fairly standard opening mission. Nothing wrong to my eye. EB Dr. Aeon to defeat at the
Mission 2:
A few typos and comments about the briefing:
<ul type="square">[*]"...not to late to fix things,we just need..." => "...not too late to fix things, we just need..." - An 'o' need to be added to "too" and a space after the comma.[*]"Stabilizer" has an 'i' missing (reads stablizer)[*]"...will work, well, it will..." => "...will work; well, it will..." - the first comma could become a semi-colon to avoid running on the sentence.[*]The entire first sentence about sending me to get the parts could be removed. It reads a little repetitious as it is.[*]The phrase "ironically enough" could be enclosed in commas, as an aside remark.[*]The final sentence which starts "Oh, and, ...": The comma after the "and" could be removed. Maybe make it italic or encase it in asterisks to add emphasis. "Oh, *and* you'll need to...".[/list]
Into the mission:
Lots of boss encounter spawns. Are they really necessary?
The patrols are speaking as though they've seen me already. Patrol text should generally be idle chatter or flavour text.
The clues you get from the glowies aren't really very descriptive. Maybe write something about how they look or feel or sound like, etc.
Popup on exit is missing a period at the end.
Mission 3:
Nothing amiss in the briefing as far as I can see.
Into the mission:
Eh? Council base? Stop a robot? Defeat Requiem?
Another EB to fight.
Why does Requiem's dialogue have a German accent? I thought he was Italian.
Job done, but the whole mission seemed a little out of place. There was no real narrative to explain what happened or why I was there, and the contact just shrugs it off.
Mission 4:
Ok, briefing's fine. Into the mission.
Small map, some Arachnos and suddenly a custom boss. He hits pretty hard and has lieut accomplices. Took me a couple of defeats to take him down. Slightly bothersome, but a challenge.
Another period missing on the popup.
Mission 5:
Small typo in the briefing: Did you mean "special prison" or "spatial prison"? At the moment it reads "spacial".
Into the Mission:
Small map, patrols of random mobs. Nice touch.
The Nemesis patrol's comment about not being in Peregrine any more kind of repeats the reference in the 3rd mission's popup though.
The Cimerorans' comment of "How dist we get here?" is taunting my pedantry gland. If you were trying for a Olde English style dialogue, it should be "didst". But even then, they're Roman
Another boss. Different sets, still with a couple of lieut cohorts. Again, a little annoying but doable.
Destroyed the objectives, now the last guy.
Popped my powers and some insps, engaged the EB. Electric melee and Inv, oh goody.
Fianlly took him down after about 15 mins and a couple of defeats after he used his Unstoppable.
Arc over.
---- Possible spoilers before this line.
Ok, overall, that wasn't a bad arc. The story has a lot of good ideas in it, although they could do with a bit more fleshing out narrative wise. Maybe some clues on mission completion.
That third mission seemed completely out of place to me, I felt there wasn't any real point to it. If you can tie it in better with the plot, it might work.
There seemed to be a little too much emphasis on EBs and AVs (bosses and EBs for scaled down soloing) for my liking, almost every mission had at least one. Furthermore, the second mission had lots of deliberate boss encounters placed around the map. They seem a little unnecessary in my mind. Maybe a couple for flavour text, that's all. If you were triyng for a challenging arc, then fair enough, I retract my criticisms about the bosses; but I feel a lot of ATs might get a little frustrated about some of the encounters if they try soloing.
So in conclusion, a rather solid arc that could become even better with a little more cohesiveness in the narrative and maybe some tweaks to the encounters and custom foes.
------------
I guess now I post my arc for judgement:
Arc Name: Mission: Muffet
Arc ID: 15390
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: (@)LLamaBoy
Difficulty Level: Should be soloable by essentially everyone on Heroic, could be more challenging in a team or with a higher difficulty.
Synopsis: A short adventure of betrayal, loyalty and danger. Starts with an unexpected recruit to the Malta Operative.
Estimated Time to Play: Around 30-60 minutes depending on personal clearing preference and reading speed.
Link to More Details or Feedback: Discussion thread
Be honest, thanks
Justice Hunter, 50 Inv/SS Tank
Slenszic, 50 Sword/Energy Stalker
MA Arc IDs: 1355, 2341, 2350
Arc Name: Dimensional Rift Detected
Arc ID: 16279
Enemy Group: DECAY, Decay's Transformation, Decay's Influence
Description: A dimensional rift has opened up in Paragon City and you are asked to investigate.
Challenge: Very difficult, despite having no EBs or AVs. May be crazy difficult with a team. Willing to experiment.
Morality: Heroic
Length: 3 missions (Considered Medium)
Author: @EnderXncdr
Sadly, I am posting this before I hit the bed, so I will not be able to test your arc LLamaBoy , but I will tomorrow when I get up.
Edit Notes:
- Added another mission as a tie-in to the end mission.
- Significantly decreased the debuffs of custom minions, in particular Minion of Fear (who was the main offender), but Minion of Apathy, Minion of Torment, Minion of Greed, and Minion of Ignorance has not been changed.
- After a lot of digging, most Confuse powers have been dropped, with the exception of a Boss (would spoil the surprise if I told you which one).
- Increased the difficulty of Officer of Fear. (All Officers are supposed to be tough)
- Decreased the difficulty of Officer of Apathy. (With the exception of this one, and you will appreciate why after facing her. Hint: No more Energy Transfer)
- Decreased the difficulty of Final Mission.
- Added more background story to plot.
All right. Go ahead and check it if you want.
[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Dimensional Rift Detected
Arc ID: 16279
Enemy Group: DECAY, Decay's Transformation, Decay's Influence
Description: A dimensional rift has opened up in Paragon City and you are asked to investigate.
Challenge: Very difficult, despite having no EBs or AVs.
Morality: Heroic
Length: 3 missions (Considered Medium)
Author: @EnderXncdr
Sadly, I am posting this before I hit the bed, so I will not be able to test your arc LLamaBoy , but I will tomorrow when I get up.
Edit Notes:
- Added another mission as a tie-in to the end mission.
- Significantly decreased the debuffs of custom minions, in particular Minion of Fear (who was the main offender), but Minion of Apathy, Minion of Torment, Minion of Greed, and Minion of Ignorance has not been changed.
- After a lot of digging, most Confuse powers have been dropped, with the exception of a Boss (would spoil the surprise if I told you which one).
- Increased the difficulty of Officer of Fear. (All Officers are supposed to be tough)
- Decreased the difficulty of Officer of Apathy. (With the exception of this one, and you will appreciate why after facing her. Hint: No more Energy Transfer)
- Decreased the difficulty of Final Mission.
- Added more background story to plot.
All right. Go ahead and check it if you want.
[/ QUOTE ]
I will run through it But please check mine as well, I have made some changes and would like another opinion since the changes
I'm only ladylike when compared to my sister.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Here's my arc:
Arc Name: Twisting Time
Arc ID: 15528
Faction: Neutral
Creator Global/Forum Name: @BlackSkull
Difficulty Level: Hard on higher difficulties
Contains some custom characters
Synopsis:
It's fairly story heavy so you get a pretty good explanation as you play, has to do with time travel, but the title kinda gives that away.
Spent the better part of 2 days tweaking this one so any feedback would be appreciated
[/ QUOTE ]
Just gave this a run through solo on Heroic. I noted down some of the typos I noticed and general comments.
---- Possible spoilers after this line
Mission 1:
No spelling errors, fairly standard opening mission. Nothing wrong to my eye. EB Dr. Aeon to defeat at the
Mission 2:
A few typos and comments about the briefing:
<ul type="square">[*]"...not to late to fix things,we just need..." => "...not too late to fix things, we just need..." - An 'o' need to be added to "too" and a space after the comma.[*]"Stabilizer" has an 'i' missing (reads stablizer)[*]"...will work, well, it will..." => "...will work; well, it will..." - the first comma could become a semi-colon to avoid running on the sentence.[*]The entire first sentence about sending me to get the parts could be removed. It reads a little repetitious as it is.[*]The phrase "ironically enough" could be enclosed in commas, as an aside remark.[*]The final sentence which starts "Oh, and, ...": The comma after the "and" could be removed. Maybe make it italic or encase it in asterisks to add emphasis. "Oh, *and* you'll need to...".[/list]
Into the mission:
Lots of boss encounter spawns. Are they really necessary?
The patrols are speaking as though they've seen me already. Patrol text should generally be idle chatter or flavour text.
The clues you get from the glowies aren't really very descriptive. Maybe write something about how they look or feel or sound like, etc.
Popup on exit is missing a period at the end.
Mission 3:
Nothing amiss in the briefing as far as I can see.
Into the mission:
Eh? Council base? Stop a robot? Defeat Requiem?
Another EB to fight.
Why does Requiem's dialogue have a German accent? I thought he was Italian.
Job done, but the whole mission seemed a little out of place. There was no real narrative to explain what happened or why I was there, and the contact just shrugs it off.
Mission 4:
Ok, briefing's fine. Into the mission.
Small map, some Arachnos and suddenly a custom boss. He hits pretty hard and has lieut accomplices. Took me a couple of defeats to take him down. Slightly bothersome, but a challenge.
Another period missing on the popup.
Mission 5:
Small typo in the briefing: Did you mean "special prison" or "spatial prison"? At the moment it reads "spacial".
Into the Mission:
Small map, patrols of random mobs. Nice touch.
The Nemesis patrol's comment about not being in Peregrine any more kind of repeats the reference in the 3rd mission's popup though.
The Cimerorans' comment of "How dist we get here?" is taunting my pedantry gland. If you were trying for a Olde English style dialogue, it should be "didst". But even then, they're Roman
Another boss. Different sets, still with a couple of lieut cohorts. Again, a little annoying but doable.
Destroyed the objectives, now the last guy.
Popped my powers and some insps, engaged the EB. Electric melee and Inv, oh goody.
Fianlly took him down after about 15 mins and a couple of defeats after he used his Unstoppable.
Arc over.
---- Possible spoilers before this line.
Ok, overall, that wasn't a bad arc. The story has a lot of good ideas in it, although they could do with a bit more fleshing out narrative wise. Maybe some clues on mission completion.
That third mission seemed completely out of place to me, I felt there wasn't any real point to it. If you can tie it in better with the plot, it might work.
There seemed to be a little too much emphasis on EBs and AVs (bosses and EBs for scaled down soloing) for my liking, almost every mission had at least one. Furthermore, the second mission had lots of deliberate boss encounters placed around the map. They seem a little unnecessary in my mind. Maybe a couple for flavour text, that's all. If you were triyng for a challenging arc, then fair enough, I retract my criticisms about the bosses; but I feel a lot of ATs might get a little frustrated about some of the encounters if they try soloing.
So in conclusion, a rather solid arc that could become even better with a little more cohesiveness in the narrative and maybe some tweaks to the encounters and custom foes.
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I guess now I post my arc for judgement:
Arc Name: Mission: Muffet
Arc ID: 15390
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: (@)LLamaBoy
Difficulty Level: Should be soloable by essentially everyone on Heroic, could be more challenging in a team or with a higher difficulty.
Synopsis: A short adventure of betrayal, loyalty and danger. Starts with an unexpected recruit to the Malta Operative.
Estimated Time to Play: Around 30-60 minutes depending on personal clearing preference and reading speed.
Link to More Details or Feedback: Discussion thread
Be honest, thanks
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Thanks for the feedback, it was really helpful, will definitely do some more to flesh things out a bit. All the bosses in the second mission is to give it a feel of the heavily guarded base the contact talks about, it's supposed to be kinda difficult, they hate people stealing their things.
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I'm courting feedback on my creation, as well.
Arc Name: Between Light and Shadows
Arc ID: 7346
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
Enemies: Various, including some custom enemies
Difficulty: Intended to be medium to hard
Alignment: Heroic
Author: @Vulpy
One of Paragon's heroes has been quieter than usual lately. Now that he's back in touch with the Midnight Squad, what sort of adventures might he turn up? Contains 1 Elite Boss. I'm interested in all sorts of feedback, but I'm especially interested in finding out why it might not be a five-star Arc (if you don't think it is).
Thanks in advance; feel free to post feedback here, or in message board PMs. If you'd like my advice with any Arcs of your own, please contact me via PM or global tell.
Quote:
|
Newton: I observed Mercury's perihelion moving 43 arc-seconds per century more than it should. Is this WAI? --Einstein |
Wellp, I'm going to plant my arc up here again- I've revised it fairly heavily from when I first posted it on this thread, way back when, and it's still evolving somewhat, although it's mostly refinements at this stage.
Arc Name: Small Fears
Arc ID: 7108
Length: Medium (3 Missions)
Enemies: Mostly Custom
Difficulty: Middling-to-Difficult (varies depending on AT- probably best to duo it, at least)
Alignment: Heroic
Author: @Experiment DBWP
Description: No matter how happy your childhood, there are always a few corners of darkness, little pockets of black fear that every child knows. And now those shadows are expanding. Something is clawing out of the lost childhood of Paragon. Are you ready? Ready to confront the forgotten fears of the nursery?
It does contain an EB/AV (depending on difficulty) or two, so fair warning. It's a horror-themed arc, which, while I normally can't stand horror (seriously, I just won't watch it/read it), was oddly fun to write. If you have any suggestions on improving the overall 'feel', let me know- I want this as good (and creepy ) as I can get it.
Oh... feel free to post feedback here, if you like.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
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(That's actually a cool name for a villain, though)[/list]Contents
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The story itself was actually pretty good. 5/5 there. The only thing I didn't like is that you weren't kidding. It was long. However, no Defeat Alls and most of them could be ghosted, so yeah, it's good. I typically cannot be at the computer for extended periods of time.
Here are some bugs I picked up.
Messed up Title.
Mission 1:
Hellraiser Sykes belongs to All Custom Characters Villian Group
Mission 2:
Mission Intro for Second Mission "Steal the Eye". "Paragon Police are barely able to keep this battle from spilling out into other are of the city." I guess it should be "area".
Hellraiser Trask belongs to All Custom Characters Villian Group and surrounded by allied Sky Raiders
Mission 3:
Good.
Mission 4:
Hellraiser Shepherd belongs to All Custom Characters Villian Group
"Finally. I thought we'd never get rid of HeroAdjective." in defeating a Rularuu.
Mission 5:
Typo in second paragraph mission briefing.
Hellraiser Freeman belongs to All Custome Characters Villian Group.
Any problem can be solved with Trip Mines and End Drain. Not necessarily a bug, but always nice.
Might as well post mine.
Arc Name: Dimensional Rift Detected
[color= orange]Arc ID:[/color] 13685
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @EnderXncdr/Killohurtz
Difficulty Level: Medium-High. (No AVs or EBs, but the Bosses are little difficult.)
Synopsis: A rift opened up in Peregrine Island, and you are asked to investigate. Custom Critters only. Goes into Superdudes lore and yet, is part of canon. (http://www.superdudes.net)
Estimated Time to Play: About 30 minutes to an hour. First Mission is Defeat All. Second Mission is Defeat Bosses.
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Thanks for playing my arc! Glad you enjoyed it! Anyway, I've fixed the bugs that you pointed out (Most of which were introduced by this latest patch) except for the HeroAdjective one. He's supposed to say "I thought we'd never get rid of him/her" depending on your gender but apparently, if it's an NPC he defeats, it doesn't say either one and just says HeroAdjective instead. That's a bug with $himher that is unrelated to my arc, sadly. Also, the title being messed up is happening with all arcs that have spaces in their names, as far as I know.
Anyway, since you went through the trouble of running my arc, I figure I can return the favor by running yours.
Starting up:
In the description, after "They are requesting assistance", it says <br><br>. I assume this was to signify pressing Enter twice but I don't think those work in Architect descriptions.
Mission 1:
Briefing:
<ul type="square">[*]Typo in the first sentence of the second paragraph of the briefing. It should be "I need some help" instead of just "need some help." [*]In the "shiny Crey building" sentence of the send off dialog, the scientists are referred to as "started." I'd recommend changing this to startled or even shaken. [*]Again, in the send off dialogue, the sentence " Oh by the way, not that you need to, but a little back-up may be helpful." is a little awkward. I'd recommend changing it to " Oh, by the way,you may not need it, but a little back-up may be helpful." or " Oh, by the way, a little back-up may be helpful... not that you need it."[*]The last sentence says "it will record the the source of Rift's coordinates." The two "the's" are a typo and I would recommend changing Rift to "the Rift" because I don't think the dimensional rift is actually called Rift.
<ul type="square">[*]Really creepy custom enemies. Great work on them! The Minions of Apathy are absurdly powerful, though, taking away most of my health in one hit. Keep in mind that these things are MINIONS, which means there could be several of them in a group. This may be an issue with Ninjitsu in general, though. I've noticed every enemy that has Ninjitsu at the moment does absurd damage, perhaps because they're always critical hitting.[*]The Minions of Greed have a typo in their bios. It says "...standing in their way, by stealing their abilities." I don't think that comma should be there. The Minions of Apathy have a similar typo in their bios, "...of people in general, and exploit when necessary." Again, I don't think that comma should be there and I believe that "exploit when necessary" should probably be "exploit that fact when necessary."[*]The clue when you close the portal says "... where a large battle between the forces of Decay and some other group." I think it should probably be "you saw (Or observed, if you prefer) a large battle.."[*]The mission complete clue says " The Officer of Fear before he melted into a pile of goo..." It should probably be "The Officer of Fear said before he melted into a pile of goo..."[/list]Debriefing:
Quite good. No problems that I could see.
Mission 2:
Briefing:
No problems that I noticed.
Content:
<ul type="square">[*]Maybe this is just because of all the bosses in this mission but it seems like this group uses confuse excessively. I can live with all the slows but when practically every group confuses me, it's getting impossible to actually attack anything, especially with all the slows on top of that. I was able to defeat most of the bosses on the map regardless but once I got to the Officers of Apathy and got one-shotted by their energy transfer at full health, I gave up out of frustration.[/list]Misc:
<ul type="square">[*]Besides what I've said already, I'll definitely say that the group definitely needs to be toned down a lot. The worst offenders are the Minions and Officers of Apathy, which I've previously mentioned. In particular, the Officers' energy transfer one-shots me without fail, doing 3576 energy damage along with 1859 smashing damage when my scrapper only has 1338 HP. The excessive debuffs from the other enemies need to be looked at as well. Debuffs are good and make for an interesting group but you have to remember that too many can render a player character helpless. They are, however, a really well designed group with a lot of diversity! Once they're toned down, they should make interesting opponents.[*]All of the scripted bosses (Such as the ones you need to defeat in the second mission) are currently in the faction "All Custom Characters" similar to mine.[/list]
Hope that helps! This arc has a lot of potential and once the enemy group is toned down, I'd definitely like to see more arcs featuring them. Decay, although we haven't heard much about him, at least appears to be a formidable foe.
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All right. Toned it down a bit. I hope the damage output is toned down, and I definitely removed Energy Transfer. 3500 Damage? Yikes! I didn't get hit with that (stayed at range), but still, YIKES! Also changed up the map to the ruined city map, because it is bigger. Lots of Patrols now.
However, about the toning down of the debuffs. Would it surprise you that most of them are on Standard? Can't do much without changing power sets, but the power sets give the feel of the minions, no? So I rearranged some of the minions. There are actually 15 total, but due to space constraints, there are 12 total in the missions.
I got no clue if the All Custom Characters thing is a bug or not. No matter what, it reverts back. Ugh, I give up.
Anyway, reposting. Check it out if you want.
Arc Name: Dimensional Rift Detected
[color= orange]Arc ID:[/color] 13685
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @EnderXncdr/Killohurtz
Difficulty Level: High. (No AVs or EBs, but there are debuffs.)
Synopsis: A rift opened up in Peregrine Island, and you are asked to investigate. Custom Critters only. Goes into Superdudes lore and yet, is part of canon. (http://www.superdudes.net)
Estimated Time to Play: About 30 minutes to an hour. First Mission is Defeat All. Second Mission is Defeat Bosses.
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