Changes made to "The Portal Bandits":
* Minor grammar and spelling corrections.
* Minor story change in mission 2.
* Replaced Engineer spawns in mission 4 with Shockfist spawns.
Changes made to "The Amulet of J'gara":
* Mission 3 is Defeat All again, figured out what was keeping it from working right. Don't anyone whine, it's a tiny map after all.
* The Avatars in mission 4 are all optional now.
[ QUOTE ]
I don't know what would make them "interesting" to you so nothing I can do about that.
[/ QUOTE ]
Sorry about that, I sounded glib. I meant: The contact provides information, and the allies follow along, but I don't get a sense of their personalities, anything quirky about them.
You could again say that you don't have enough text space left to do this. One less custom toon would give you a lot to work with, but would require a sacrifice.
Arc: 379017: Outbroken See all your old friends in the Outbreak Tutorial sequel!
Arc: Coming Soon: The Incarnate Shadow Shard of Fire and Ice Mender Rednem needs you!
Massively.com opinion poll: Please Help Save CoH!
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[ QUOTE ]
I don't know what would make them "interesting" to you so nothing I can do about that.
[/ QUOTE ]
Sorry about that, I sounded glib. I meant: The contact provides information, and the allies follow along, but I don't get a sense of their personalities, anything quirky about them.
You could again say that you don't have enough text space left to do this. One less custom toon would give you a lot to work with, but would require a sacrifice.
[/ QUOTE ]
It's not like I can give allies battle-dialog while they fight alongside you or make enemies outside of boss details talk. Even patrols only speak once when you arrive on a new floor and might be so far away that you'll miss it anyway.
Changes made to "The Portal Bandits":
* Nagans are now the primary group in mission 4. Rikti are added in via battles.
* Anna now appears as an extra optional ally in mission 4.
* Updated Naga's description.
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Arc Name: The Amulet of J'gara
Arc ID: 1709
Faction: Tuatha de Dannon, Circle of Thorns, Void Demons
Morality: Heroic
Difficulty Level: Easy-Medium
Synopsis: A pair of Midnighters have disappeared while on a mission to Croatoa. What begins as a rescue leads to an assault on the Midnight Club itself and a battle for your own mind and soul. (AV present, Allies are provided.)
Estimated Time to Play: 30-45 minutes
[/ QUOTE ]
On a mission by mission Bases, Level 38 Fire/Fire Tanker used. I may never comment on grammar or spelling errors/problems because those never were my strong points. If I notice it, it has to be very ovious, I think it sounds odd, or just that bad. Half the time when I think something sounds odd it's grammaticly correct.
Mission 1:
Introduction: Is... kind of nothing. It strikes me as a, 'Hello, now go get the stick' Type start. And judging by the greeting... This guy is an actual contact? Because I have no idea who he is.
The Mission: No complaints there. A normal mission.
Clues: Comments giving a little bit of info, nothing bad here.
Mission Complete: " wonder what the Circle of Thorns was doing here to begin with." Would changing 'was' with 'were' and 'here' with 'there' be incorrect grammar?
Mission 2:
Introduction: It's better though if you can, maybe you could add a little extra text to go with their finding the location. Something to give an organized feel to them as well as a passing of time. Right now it sounds like Buck did some work on the translation and the Midnighters just knew where Jermiah like it took no effort on their part.
The Mission: No complaints. I'm actualy shocked that small Circle maps exist.
Mission complete: The pop up stated the circle were preparing while the clue has Polentas saying the attack was happening while you were talking to him. Buck supports Polentas with his comment when you talk to him. I think ya might alter the mission complete popup text so it's in line with the clue and Buck.
Mission 3:
Introduction: I got nothing to say.
The Mission: A clue or boss defeat message for anything noticable would be a good touch as we have no sign to guess what happened to him after he is defeated. Far as we know, he just cried out on defeat. The mission as a note on it saying defeat all enemies giving the impression it is ment to be a clear all but I got mission complete without defeating everything.
Mission Complete: I won't say unexpected because some people would figure it but I will say I didn't think of that thus.... 'NICE!'
Mission 4:
Introduction: To be honest, I kind of did forget about that. Asuming this is going where I think it's gowing, I think a nice touch would be a feeling of sorts that is ment to remind about what Buck said. It would also explain why less psy aware characters would be able to enter.
The Mission: Better then nothing to say, I found it to be freaking spectacular. Enviorment, enemies, clues... all of it.
Mission Complete: Heh... Heh... that does leave you wondering doesn't it.
Overall:
I say it's 5 star work that jsut needs more publicity. Well put together with nice of clues, enemies, and allies custom and otherwise.
[ QUOTE ]
Introduction: Is... kind of nothing. It strikes me as a, 'Hello, now go get the stick' Type start.
[/ QUOTE ]
The arc is meant to start like it's business as usual.
[ QUOTE ]
And judging by the greeting... This guy is an actual contact? Because I have no idea who he is.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes. I'm getting the impression by now that a lot of people who ask this question never went into Croatoa to do anything other than farm the Katie Hannon TF with someone else leading and never ran the Croatoa arcs themselves, as Buck is the last guy in the chain and the one whom through you need to go to unlock the TF. He's also the only Midnight Club member aside from Percy Winkley in Croatoa, which is where this arc is supposed to take place. The arc does assume you've joined the Midnight Squad by now.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Introduction: Is... kind of nothing. It strikes me as a, 'Hello, now go get the stick' Type start.
[/ QUOTE ]
The arc is meant to start like it's business as usual.
[ QUOTE ]
And judging by the greeting... This guy is an actual contact? Because I have no idea who he is.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes. I'm getting the impression by now that a lot of people who ask this question never went into Croatoa to do anything other than farm the Katie Hannon TF with someone else leading and never ran the Croatoa arcs themselves, as Buck is the last guy in the chain and the one whom through you need to go to unlock the TF. He's also the only Midnight Club member aside from Percy Winkley in Croatoa, which is where this arc is supposed to take place. The arc does assume you've joined the Midnight Squad by now.
[/ QUOTE ]
I've been through Croatoa once. Only ever did Katie once. Not a huge fan of the place. The only side area in heroes I go to regularlly is the Faultline.
I'm not ragging on ya, I'm just getting annoyed lately at people sometimes acting like every contact used has to be one of the big easily recognized ones.
Alright, so this is my review for MacGuffin Delivery Service :
Archetype Used: Brute
Level: 22
Powers: Electric Melee / Electric Armor
-----
Mission 1:
Right off the bat, I notice that the Contact I talk to isn't a Contact per se, but rather your character's own laptop. This is a personal pet peeve of mine (and alot of other players on the boards, based on what I've read), in that having your laptop tell you your own "thoughts" regarding each mission can be immersion-breaking if those "thoughts" don't match what my character might actually think.
That aside, the basic setup to the mission is very simple: go into a pawn shop, rob a bunch of stuff. OK, a little bland but let's see where this leads. Walk into the mission... and there's no one inside. Just alot of safes, and one artifact. I guess this fits the scenario, as you're supposed to be breaking in the middle of the night. Alright, so clicking the glowies must trigger an ambush. Click a glowie, and... nothing. Huh. Check my clues, global chat... nope, just found some stuff to pawn. I finish clicking all the glowies, and... find a "mysterious statue". Alright, where's that ambush? Checking the compass reveals you have to "take care of any witnesses". What witnesses? Oh, the Tsoo, who seem to have appeared in the main area of the map. Defeat the few Tsoo who have appeared, mission complete.
Mission 2:
Alright, apparently I've set up to sell the statue I've found to my "usual contact"... whom I've never met before. But alright, let's just say this woman's one of my many contacts whose name I've simply forgotten. I walk into the mission, and... there's no one there again. Oh, wait... there are some Council! Who are on my side, apparently... but wait! There's also some Freakshow... who are also on my side. This secret exchange point is a pretty popular place. But on a side note, very nice use of NPC dialog; I'm basically told to meet my contact "in the back". So, get to the back of the warehouse, and... it's filled with Family. Apparently, the same Family who own the Pawn Shop I stole from. So, I fight a few groups, take them down, and... the Carnival of Shadows shows up. Huh. Alright, so I take down a couple Carni- whoa! My contact springs up from nowhere and starts kicking (censored)! OK, that's random but kind of cool. Anyway, my compass tells me to get out, so I work my way back, take out a Carnie boss, and mission complete.
Mission 3:
So, apparently I decide this statue is more trouble than it's worth, but for some reason It just keeps reappearing on my person no matter where I toss it; kind of like the remote control from that Adam Sandler movie. So, I decide to look for answers from the Circle of Thorns, because they are the Masters of All Things Magic. I enter the mission, and... Oranbega map. Now, I know there are ALOT of players who would quit the Arc right here, but fortunately, I don't share their hatred of Oranbega. There are also alot of players who would quit the Arc if they saw even 1 Spectral Demon floating around, but I'm not one of those players, either. But I do recognize that the CoT are a pretty hard enemy group, so it takes me roughly twice as long to make my way through this map as it did the previous 2. On a side note, there are some genuinely humorous text messages in global chat for some of the non-required glowies in the map. Except one glowie was a CoT Magic Well, but the global chat message said there was a book in it... well, it's just a small detail. So, I finally get to the last room, and... there's the Carnival of Shadows again... with a boss. And on the other side of the room, a CoT boss is waiting. Since my compass just says I have to find information about the statue, I skip both and find the required bookcase. Mission complete.
Mission 4:
Well, apparently I've found the answer for my statue problem. I need to put the statue back in the box I found it in, thus breaking it's hold on me. Well, that makes sense, I guess. However, the box is in the hands of the Family, and they've probably moved it by now. But wait! I was able to "call in a few favors", and now I know exactly where it is! Only problem is, so does everyone else who's looking for it. But, with everyone fighting over getting the statue, I'll be able to slip in, put it back, and get out without anyone noticing me!
...Or not. I enter the mission, and right off the bat, I'm facing down the Paragon Police. Moving past them, I see that, indeed, EVERYONE is after this little statue. The Tsoo, the Carival of Shadows, the Family, all in combat with the Paragon Police. On a side note, the NPC dialog in this Arc continues to the be most well-organize dialog I've seen, even if the dialog itself is mostly generic threats and declarations. Anyway, after fighting through a whole bunch of bosses and wiping out twice, I decide to just run past all the fighting mobs and reach the required glowie at the end. I put the statue back in it's case, mission complete, Arc done.
-----
All in all, there are alot of minor annoyances in this Arc, but the story stayed solid from beginning to end. The NPC dialog was well-organized, but there were often times were things just seemed to happen randomly, to the point where I honestly didn't know what I did to trigger it. Also, there were alot of times where it seemed like a Stalker or other character with Stealth or Invisibility would have a much easier time with it, since the last two mission really just required you to click a glowie to complete the mission. That aside, it's a fun, light-hearted Arc that I would recommend to other players.
Final Score: 4 Stars 
Supplemental Galactic Protectorate Fanfic
I played ID #3326, The Portal Bandits, using a level 50 Mastermind (Robotics/Force Fields)
A lot of this contains my generic notes I took which helped to remind me of what I was doing. I used that to help me come up with a rating at the end.
(May Contain Spoilers)
Mission One: This one was fun. I enjoy the Nagan and their descriptions helped me get an idea of what they are and where they get their powers from. It always gives me great pleasure to see that somebody has bothered to put in a description. The raid leader wiped out my robots a few times, but with a few re-summons, we finally had her down. Backtracking later, I see that it probably would have been a bit easier if I had found the ally first.
Mission Two: The plot thickens as the history of the raid leader from the previous mission is explained. Just as we begin to learn a bit more, it seems the Nagan are causing trouble again, it seems. Off I go to take care of it. I must not have been moving fast to catch the battles between the Nagan and the Crey, but I know they were taking place as the Nagan made short work of their Crey opponents, filling up my defeats log.
Mission Three: Now we're starting to really find out what's going on here. Seems like my mission is pretty straight forward with information gathering. So far I'm liking the direction that this arc has been going in. No major complaints thus far. Found my ally at the start of the mission this time, and she was thankfully quite helpful throughout the rest of the mission.
Mission Four: With all the information collected, this seems to be the logical ending to the arc. Walked into a big room to see Vanguard battling with the Rikti. Not really sure why I'm able to fight the Vanguard as well unless I've missed something. Later on in the mission I find Nagan fighting Rikti, so I wonder if the Vanguard thing was a glitch.
Overall: I gave it a 5 star rating. It's not a perfect arc, but it sure was fun. The custom group was creative, and the story was interesting. A few spelling and grammatical errors here and there, and that weird thing with the Vanguard in the last mission, but overall, I would recommend this arc to others.
The latest patch broken something. I'm getting other reports in of various glitches in my arcs. I'll take a look at them all ASAP.
Ok, found that the setting on the Vanguard vs Rikti battle somehow got changed. Vanguard are back to being friendly again.
I checked MacGuffin and the Desk is a Desk, the Altar is an Altar. Not seeing any of the goofiness that was reported.
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Archetype Used: Brute
Level: 22
Powers: Electric Melee / Electric Armor
[/ QUOTE ]
Just for the record, you did notice that this was a level 35-40 arc, right?
[ QUOTE ]
Right off the bat, I notice that the Contact I talk to isn't a Contact per se, but rather your character's own laptop. This is a personal pet peeve of mine (and alot of other players on the boards, based on what I've read), in that having your laptop tell you your own "thoughts" regarding each mission can be immersion-breaking if those "thoughts" don't match what my character might actually think.
[/ QUOTE ]
Funny, I usually get the complete opposite comment on this. The laptop is only recording the story, the idea is that you are your own contact.
[ QUOTE ]
Alright, where's that ambush? Checking the compass reveals you have to "take care of any witnesses". What witnesses? Oh, the Tsoo, who seem to have appeared in the main area of the map. Defeat the few Tsoo who have appeared, mission complete.
[/ QUOTE ]
Hence why the objective changes to "You heard something." so you know to check the front of the shop. There is bosses instead of ambushes for the reasons that:
1) Filling the map with ambushes doesn't stop the normal spawns from occuring, breaking the empty map trick.
2) You can do it with patrols, but you cannot make a patrol a required defeat.
There is also a non-required family spawn in the back after defeating the Tsoo, but because Unaware text is bugged still, you probably didn't hear them when they entered.
[ QUOTE ]
Alright, apparently I've set up to sell the statue I've found to my "usual contact"... whom I've never met before. But alright, let's just say this woman's one of my many contacts whose name I've simply forgotten.
[/ QUOTE ]
That's the idea.
[ QUOTE ]
So, get to the back of the warehouse, and... it's filled with Family. Apparently, the same Family who own the Pawn Shop I stole from. So, I fight a few groups, take them down, and... the Carnival of Shadows shows up. Huh.
[/ QUOTE ]
No way to stop them from spawning in the back right now, they are actually set to Middle. Anyway, Mr. Wolfe's clue tells you that the Carnies were the buyers of the artifact.
[ QUOTE ]
Alright, so I take down a couple Carni- whoa! My contact springs up from nowhere and starts kicking (censored)! OK, that's random but kind of cool.
[/ QUOTE ]
Somehow you missed both a green-skinned girl in a bright red trenchcoat on the floor and the Family guys guarding her? I don't mean to be insulting, but do you happen to be color-blind?
Anyway, I've added some inactive dialog to her, so she's not entirely unconscious, and set the guards to do an animation that makes them even more obvious.
I wish I could make it so that the patrols don't appear until after both the Family boss is down and she is freed, but alas.
[ QUOTE ]
Anyway, my compass tells me to get out, so I work my way back, take out a Carnie boss, and mission complete.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yep, fight your way out.
[ QUOTE ]
I enter the mission, and... Oranbega map. Now, I know there are ALOT of players who would quit the Arc right here, but fortunately, I don't share their hatred of Oranbega. There are also alot of players who would quit the Arc if they saw even 1 Spectral Demon floating around, but I'm not one of those players, either.
[/ QUOTE ]
Bravo to you, I'm getting sick of pansies who whine about CoT and Oranbega.
[ QUOTE ]
Except one glowie was a CoT Magic Well, but the global chat message said there was a book in it... well, it's just a small detail.
[/ QUOTE ]
I checked this, no magic wells in that map at all so I don't know what you saw.
[ QUOTE ]
But, with everyone fighting over getting the statue, I'll be able to slip in, put it back, and get out without anyone noticing me!
...Or not. I enter the mission, and right off the bat, I'm facing down the Paragon Police. Moving past them, I see that, indeed, EVERYONE is after this little statue. The Tsoo, the Carival of Shadows, the Family, all in combat with the Paragon Police. On a side note, the NPC dialog in this Arc continues to the be most well-organize dialog I've seen, even if the dialog itself is mostly generic threats and declarations. Anyway, after fighting through a whole bunch of bosses and wiping out twice, I decide to just run past all the fighting mobs and reach the required glowie at the end. I put the statue back in it's case, mission complete, Arc done.
[/ QUOTE ]
Running past them all is the idea right from the beginning. All the boss fights are optional and as a Brute you should have had no trouble zipping past all the battles. Even squishy toons do it fine.
[ QUOTE ]
That aside, it's a fun, light-hearted Arc that I would recommend to other players.
Final Score: 4 Stars
[/ QUOTE ]
Yay. 
Changes made to "MacGuffin Delivery Service":
* More combat dialog added to bosses.
* Mister Wolfe now spawns after Amanita is rescued. This was to avoid issues of the Carnies spawning before the player had freed the ally.
Changes made to "MacGuffin Delivery Service":
* Managed to find a similar warehouse map where the patrol spawns work properly. The previous one was not obeying the Middle setting for patrols at all. Carnies should never spawn in the back room from now on.
Heya, in case you don't check the other thread as often, I put up a review of "The Amulet of J'gara" in this thread. I really liked the finale mission in particular. Have fun!
@PW - Police Woman (50 AR/dev blaster on Liberty)
TALOS - PW war journal - alternate contact tree using MA story arcs
=VICE= "Give me Liberty, or give me debt!"
Alright, played "The Portal Bandits".
The custom enemies are varied without being overpowering, though the Archers are a little irritating just because glue arrow lasts so long. It also uses "setpieces" such as battles and patrols to great effect in scene-setting. (though the customs are getting their clocks cleaned by Vanguard and are on even ground with Rikti for some reason)
But there are three things that bug me in ascending order.
1) A. Nethema invariably slaughters all her guards with Blazing Aura before I can get at her. Unless and until they fix allies turning on their damage toggles, I think toning her down to Standard armor won't affect her survivability too much.
2) The primary custom faction is a race of snake-people. Why do they have hair? There are a whole ton of interesting crests to be had in the costume designer, go to town!
3) I kinda felt like I was a bystander to a storyline that you'd cooked up involving either your characters or people in your SG and VG. I felt that way because everyone who had a role in the story, including the contact, was a custom character. Maybe this is just an unreasonable reaction on my part, and I haven't got a ready way to fix that since there's no reason ordained by the plot to invade somebody else's base. But it still bugged me.
Up with the overworld! Up with exploration! | Want a review of your arc?
My arcs: Dream Paper (ID: 1874) | Bricked Electronics (ID: 2180) | The Bravuran Jobs (ID: 5073) | Backwards Day (ID: 329000) | Operation Fair Trade (ID: 391172)
[ QUOTE ]
1) A. Nethema invariably slaughters all her guards with Blazing Aura before I can get at her. Unless and until they fix allies turning on their damage toggles, I think toning her down to Standard armor won't affect her survivability too much.
[/ QUOTE ]
Rather a minor issue, the only reason she even has guards is because if I set her to single some wierdness occurs where you get her clue the moment you enter the mission.
[ QUOTE ]
2) The primary custom faction is a race of snake-people. Why do they have hair? There are a whole ton of interesting crests to be had in the costume designer, go to town!
[/ QUOTE ]
Because they're not snake people.
[ QUOTE ]
3) I kinda felt like I was a bystander to a storyline that you'd cooked up involving either your characters or people in your SG and VG. I felt that way because everyone who had a role in the story, including the contact, was a custom character. Maybe this is just an unreasonable reaction on my part, and I haven't got a ready way to fix that since there's no reason ordained by the plot to invade somebody else's base. But it still bugged me.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, it's a cameo heavy arc and I don't deny that at all. Frankly I don't see what difference it would have made if I created random characters from scratch and can't think of what else more I can do to make you feel more important. It's flat out said from the beginning that the contact called you in for this arc, not that you're some random hero who walked by. The Allies don't act condescending towards you either. Also, when are we NOT invading villain bases for flimsy reasons?
Anyhow, the allies are just there to help out soloers and really small teams. The arc is designed more for teams and the contact warns you before every mission with an AV, in bright red text. I'm pretty much done even listening to that sort of complaint on this arc for that reason.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
1) A. Nethema invariably slaughters all her guards with Blazing Aura before I can get at her. Unless and until they fix allies turning on their damage toggles, I think toning her down to Standard armor won't affect her survivability too much.
[/ QUOTE ]
Rather a minor issue, the only reason she even has guards is because if I set her to single some wierdness occurs where you get her clue the moment you enter the mission.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, that's why I listed it first in the ascending order of gripiness.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
2) The primary custom faction is a race of snake-people. Why do they have hair? There are a whole ton of interesting crests to be had in the costume designer, go to town!
[/ QUOTE ]
Because they're not snake people.
[/ QUOTE ]
They have lizard tails and digigrade legs and I always read their name as "Naga". (Even though they're, like, "nogan" or something? Kinda hard to pick out in the game font.) You'll forgive me if I jumped from there to snake-people.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
3) I kinda felt like I was a bystander to a storyline that you'd cooked up involving either your characters or people in your SG and VG. I felt that way because everyone who had a role in the story, including the contact, was a custom character. Maybe this is just an unreasonable reaction on my part, and I haven't got a ready way to fix that since there's no reason ordained by the plot to invade somebody else's base. But it still bugged me.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, it's a cameo heavy arc and I don't deny that at all. Frankly I don't see what difference it would have made if I created random characters from scratch and can't think of what else more I can do to make you feel more important. It's flat out said from the beginning that the contact called you in for this arc, not that you're some random hero who walked by. The Allies don't act condescending towards you either. Also, when are we NOT invading villain bases for flimsy reasons?
Anyhow, the allies are just there to help out soloers and really small teams. The arc is designed more for teams and the contact warns you before every mission with an AV, in bright red text. I'm pretty much done even listening to that sort of complaint on this arc for that reason.
[/ QUOTE ]
I did a little more thinking about this, trying to come up with something helpful. And it hit me that my beef was more that it seemed like everyone knew everyone else, and I was on the outside, not knowing anyone.
It might help with that if the contact was, say, a Vanguard Helm Commander, with imperfect knowledge of the various people involved - only a little about the turncoat and not much about Anna and the thief. He could still send Iron Samurai to help you in the final mission.
Up with the overworld! Up with exploration! | Want a review of your arc?
My arcs: Dream Paper (ID: 1874) | Bricked Electronics (ID: 2180) | The Bravuran Jobs (ID: 5073) | Backwards Day (ID: 329000) | Operation Fair Trade (ID: 391172)
[ QUOTE ]
They have lizard tails and digigrade legs and I always read their name as "Naga". (Even though they're, like, "nogan" or something? Kinda hard to pick out in the game font.) You'll forgive me if I jumped from there to snake-people.
[/ QUOTE ]
The names are mostly a case of translation convention, as to why they all speak English as well. I'd like to drop a clue somewhere that contains a "What we know so far:" briefing but I'm already at 99.9%. If I ever get around to doing Naga's Virtueverse page finally the player could just look it all up there if they really want to know.
Anyway, here's the word of god on them: they're somewhat scaly reptile-like mammalian humanoids who come from a warmer planet with a lot more UV exposure that if it existed, would be known to us as Beta Hydri V. Those suits they wear are to keep them warm in the relatively cold climate that Paragon City is located in.
I guess when you put all those details together up above, you didn't ask the question "why do all these lizard girls have breasts?"
[ QUOTE ]
I did a little more thinking about this, trying to come up with something helpful. And it hit me that my beef was more that it seemed like everyone knew everyone else, and I was on the outside, not knowing anyone.
It might help with that if the contact was, say, a Vanguard Helm Commander, with imperfect knowledge of the various people involved - only a little about the turncoat and not much about Anna and the thief. He could still send Iron Samurai to help you in the final mission.
[/ QUOTE ]
Vanguard as a contact would turn it into a more neutral story rather than a hero arc. If only they had the "Ask about this Contact" button there, but when you get Iron Samurai as an ally his description does explain that he works for Portal Corp and acts as a liaison with Vanguard.
[ QUOTE ]
I guess when you put all those details together up above, you didn't ask the question "why do all these lizard girls have breasts?"
[/ QUOTE ]
Honestly, I didn't see them. The black bodysuits + energy armor effects made them look fairly shapeless with occasional color highlight, and I figured you were doing a thing with armor and a minimum slider that I had seen done elsewhere.
Up with the overworld! Up with exploration! | Want a review of your arc?
My arcs: Dream Paper (ID: 1874) | Bricked Electronics (ID: 2180) | The Bravuran Jobs (ID: 5073) | Backwards Day (ID: 329000) | Operation Fair Trade (ID: 391172)
Well for those who have trouble seeing all the details, here they are without weapons and auras.
Nagans
From left to right, from top to bottom: Naga Obscura (AV), Archer (LT), Brawler (Minion), Centurion (Boss), Duelist (LT), Engineer (Boss), Powerfist (Minion), Shockfist (LT), Talon (Minion).
Changes made to "The Amulet of J'gara":
* Rewrote some of the briefings, debriefings, clues, and objectives for missions 1 and 2. Story should flow better and have less plot holes.
* Journal clue in mission 2 is now optional. Apparently it wasn't always spawning with the boss and people were having to go look for it to end the mission. The information in it wasn't very important, just a little foreshadowing.
MacGuffin Delivery Service
Arc ID: 1567
Rating: ****
As the only villainous arc, I chose this to play through with my 50 Stalker (whom I've been using for all my MA play). I found it to be a fun, well-crafted crime caper.
I was impressed with the use of spawns in the first two mission, how they creatively popped up only when the story called for it. Made it feel like the mission was happening because of me, instead of just waiting for some PC to walk into a map full of baddies.
Story-wise the use of CoT and Orenbega makes sense, though that didn't stop me from groaning when I saw what the 3rd mish entailed. Still, the various book titles were entertaining.
The final mission felt like a little bit of a letdown. It was just a find the glowy mish, and it kind of paled after the creativity of the first two missions. Maybe it might have been more of a challenge if I hadn't ghosted most of it with my Stalker, but it still felt like it was lacking something.
Overall, I like it. I gave it 4 stars. Very good, but not mind-blowingly awesome. I'll have to play through it again sometime with a different villain. Oh, and the final bit and the souvenir made me smile.
Arc: The Amulet of J'garra
Author: @Lazarus
Number of Missions: 4 Missions
Rating: *****
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Character used: Sarah Miedos - PPD, Level 30 Dual Blades/Willpower Tanker
Difficulty: Heroic (Diff 1)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 30
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Mission 1: The midnighters have always treated me right, and always seem to be getting kidnapped, so teh thought that 2 of their members were missing leads to some obvious conclusions in my world. Regardless, I jumped right in, knowing I could take most anything that could have taken them. The words watch out for Red Caps made it even easier, because I knew what I was going to face.
So I walk in, and smell Tuatha... ok. I can handle them. Their slows and self heals get old fast, but they are a good fun group to fight, especially if you can get a large number together. Just gotta watch for Red Caps, in case they add. That could hurt...
No Red Caps yet.
Found Luis D'Artier amidst some CoT and had him free in moments. Not too bad so far. He's a minion though, and obviously ready for payback. He's so dead.
So I go through to the last room, searching for the last hostage, and no go. There's one more CoT in the room though. I ram his head into the walls a few times until he talks, and he tells me the dreaded words that remind me of Toad's "Thank you, but our princess is in another castle"
The second hostage is a lie!
& still no Red Caps...
Overall it's a nice setup here. A small cave with some good fighting space available. The enemies are old favorites, despite some of their powers, and I had fun in here. Made a few bars of xp at the same time. Amazingly, Luis had the sense to hang back and blast enemies while I tanked. That minion lived! Was pleased with him. 
Mission 2: Now, to find Jeremiah Jones....
Fortunately, our wonderful contact had the sense to warn me Jerry would be a scrappy old man. After fighting through half the mission to find him, what I realized was just what that meant. Jeremiah was like a pit bull! He'd knock my nicely herded group of foes away, scattering them all over the medium high room and then go chasing one while I patiently collected my foes again. Rinse, repeat.
Once I got annoyed enough with the knockback, I ditched the old man, listening to his cries of 'You whippersnapper' as I jumped into another group of foes, pleased to actually get to fight them and not have to run all over the map. Kinda makes me feel bad for the winds of my storm troller. Not much though. There's polite KB, and then there is impolite, and the ally was the latter. He was well deserted.
At the end, the CoT fell before my strength without ever really hurting me. Not too bad, it was a small map, and an easy fun fight.
Mission 3: It turns out that the CoT are invading the Midnighter club itself, most likely to steal their artifacts. Unlike MAGI, the Midnighters are planning to stop it before things get out of control. Wise people. My contact seems more afraid that Mindskewer, who was all the CoT were talking about in Mission 2, was after the Amulet of J'garra. Makes sense that she'd want a mind control amping artifact.
So, I enter the midnighter club, see it's a defeat all, and groan. But that's a small map, I know it. Shouldn't be too bad.
The first thing I see is the first thing to fall. I free the living armor. Nice, another ally. Should make this mission quicker. NExt foe I walk up to is another easy fight. That's when I learn something new about the MA Setup.
Allies damage reduces XP exactly like a confused foe. You recieve your experience based on the percentage of damage you deal. As the tank, that's not much. I'm watching CoT fall and getting 2-5 xp on things I know yield 500-600.
So I attempt to ditch the armor. No dice, map is too small. I try to go through the door to the front, the armor follows me. Finally, I just accept I'm getting no xp this time, and move on to rescue the next guy, and then face Mindskewer, who turns out to be a very easy fight with both allies at my side.
Ultimately, I decide that this is a good part for storyline, because you are doing something heroic, but it feels entirely too easy, which justifies the lack of experience. It's a nice conclusion to the threat, and I stil exit with a smile.
Mission 4: Then this jerk, Mindskewer screws it all up by taking control of my mind...
I walked into the new mission, in a mental link between myself and Mindskewer, where everything is burning down and find myself looking at my contact and the CoT leader from the first mission helpless. What are they doing in MY mind? Or was I in Mindskewers... is there a difference at this point?
I spend the next several minutes freeing various avatars of myself, my strength and balance and drive, and ditching them one by one. Then I see mindskewer.. I jump into the fight! Nice EB/AV, fights a little dirty with holds, but she can't hurt me! And I can't hurt her...
So I go round up my aspects of myself and wipe the floor with mindskewer as if she wasn't even there.
Now free, I pause to reflect again on what was just accomplished. I won, hands down. the Midnighters are safe again, Mindskewer is arrested. There was a good story there, and I enjoyed that, but there is a lack of reward that hurts my non-50 self.
I can live with that though. Exp is free everywhere in Paragon city. A good story is something to treasure for it's own sake.
I move on with my day.
Then it hits me..
THERE WERE NO RED CAPS! The Red Caps are a LIE!!!!!
-Sayaki
[ QUOTE ]
I would've just put in text to the effect of "if you can't stop Mindskewer in your state, you might have to spend some time focusing your mind to regain balance, strength, and initiative."
[/ QUOTE ]
You pretty much just described the new mission entry pop-up.