Arc Reviews

My queue is again full

46405, 6536, 53131, 17702, 4431, 1589, 71523, 60280, 13579, 68930

Keep in mind that others can review too.

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What the heck you seem like a good reviewer. When and if you get time try Dark Astoria Unleashed #58376. Listed as Very Long because of file size not time.

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Try out these AE arcs: 58376, 121698 & 143827

Badges? Did someone say badges? Sign me up!

I could use some feedback on an arc in progress, I have been fooling around with a custom critter group that I plan on having a pretty big story on; This group is introduced as a cameo in the MA mission below (they are fighting the skulls in an office), I need to get opinions on their makeup, ability, description (in 'Info'), etc. They are tougher than the skulls I know for sure, the battle I came across was over before it started :/ - need to know if this translates into fighting other heroes too (Tested on a 12 Elec/Elec with little to no issue).

Arc says Defeat All but it is really just clear all of the last room - there is an optional glowie clue as well that adds some more flavor.

Arc 72565: Information Disruption
Creator: @Clorius
Length: Short
Morality: Hero
Map: 2 Floor Office Map (standard Hero set #7)

Description: A high level Skulls contact has gone missing disrupting the flow of information to the PPD. You have been called on because of your reputation... but is there more to meets the eye on this case?

Level Range 1-14 (until I can figure out how to make some custom Skulls)

Edited for typo

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Well I got another one for ya for when you get some time.

The New Freaks in Town
Arc # 72852
Medium sized
Heroic

There is word around the city that there is a new villain group in town and are planning an attempt to overthrow the Freakshow. That's bad new for the Freakshow by far, but it could turn out bad for all of us. You must make sure this doesn't happen and prevent an all out gang war.

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[ QUOTE ]
Not that I expect Venture to play it again, but revisions complete.

[/ QUOTE ]
Likewise, don't expect him to play mine again (#28430, Sidekicks Can Be A Pain In The Cape), but I took some of Venture's suggestions, added a couple of other things, whole new look. I can't say enough about how much a solid critique can help, as well as playing arcs to see what others have done.

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Likewise, don't expect him to play mine again (#28430, Sidekicks Can Be A Pain In The Cape)

According to my records, I haven't played it once yet...it's not even in the queue....

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Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"

Don't forget mine Venture (45146) I posted it some pages back, but couldnt remember the Id so refered to my sig

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Going to push this again as I did some rewrite and mission tweaking due to a weird "map unavailable" glitch on a kill all that just made people ANGRY (I totally understood that emaotion) changed some bossy power sets too because they were damned hard to kill (Gargoyle being a prime example) should run much smoother now.

Arc Name: Second Generation Hero
Arc ID: 41429
Global ID: @Rampager

Synopsis: You must help Rampager get his Mace and Armor back
Difficulty Level: 50 Boss, EB, AV, AV Allies
Faction: 5th column, CoT + custom

Estimated Time to Play/Number of Missions: 5 missions, 1 timed, 1 hr or less with 4 players
Morality: Hero

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Since Midnight Rider just missed Hell O Ween's queue, and HOW suggested others can review, I will jump to the conclusion that I might review this. Midnight, I hope you don't mind. If it's not what you're looking for, you could submit it again when someone has an open queue.

Dark Ast(r)oria Unleashed #58376 @Midnight Rider
(There is the above typo in your Arc title on the server)

Evil, enchanted souls have escaped from Dark Astoria, hell-bent on ruling the living world. It is your mission to contain the outbreak and seal them back where they belong.
(I added 2 commas and a hypen to your arc description)

5 missions, all 1-54 level range. No 'defeat-all' goals, yay.

I'm taking this on with my souped-up lv50 mind/FF controller.

Mish 1: Titled, "Find the book" (need to capitalize Book), I am asked if I can help find the cause of a strange energy. So I am assuming it will be a book. Perhaps the mission title could be more ambiguous, or the dialog more succinct.
Mish 1 subtitle: DA Unleashed? - perhaps spell out Dark Astoria, slightly confusing otherwise.
Titles and subtitles can be clearer in slightly larger font and/or color, but that's a style choice.
Introduction tells me, now leave. I don't have a very clear picture of what's happening, except through the title.
Mish 1 entry popup: This is a statement, not a question, rephrase or drop the question mark.
The place I've arrived in doesn't strike me as being Dark Astoria, perhaps the reason or transition could be alluded to somewhere.
The patrol dialogs on the other hand are much more informative, which is good.
I find a bluff book glowie. Good, I keep looking. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Eventually I find the book!
You've used $himher and $name in an unaware enemy (mish 1 patrol) dialog. This doesn't work seem to work, perhaps because the patrol isn't aware of me. Nonetheless, your attention to the patrol comments continues to help me follow the plot. Good.
The ancient book Clue should be two sentences: You ... you for. You also found some very strange ghosts!
Nothing in the mish helps explain why I'm in a nice-looking building that doesn't look like Dark Astoria. Even the patrols thought it was unlike Dark Astoria. Perhaps this can be clarified somehow during the mission or the Clues.
Taking a moment to review the custom critters: they're good! Surprisingly not over-the-top, with good costumes, reflection effects, and powers. They really do feel more like an in-game critter set, rather than overpowered custom jobs.

Mish 2, similar purpose (strange energies), and map. Will look for Princess Skuld, mentioned as controlling the spirits in the last mission's minion descriptions. This time I arrive to find I'm rescuing captives.
Mish 2 entry popup provides good atmosphere. It's breezier than usual for an office.
The captives have fun names. At first I wasn't sure if it was relevant to the plot.
Skuldians Clue: zombie-like (add hyphen)

Mish 3 intro: If your -> If you're ; human like -> human-like (or humanoid?)
Very nice Accept string! This is a bit of style. I happily accept this mission.
Mish entry popup: need a comma after Lord.
The Navigation text is a short, complete sentence. This is unusual, and great, very readable. I think I need to consider this in my own missions.
I meet a recently converted citizen, Battered Bones, and I understand now where the attention to detail went in this arc. I rescue a citizen, not even an objective, but a great way for me to exercise my heroic muscles.
I decide to run past the next few enemies, since they don't change much, and I haven't seen any more citizens. I find the evil princess, and her description made me laugh. "The most feared of...is the most feared." Not sure if that is intentional. I am clobbered, and run away. I search around quickly in case there's an ally who might help me battle her, but no luck. I Mass Confuse several Boney people, but they don't help much. In the end, she cuts me down without trying very hard, after I barely scratch her. I have to think hard about tactics here. Normally I'd strike and run, but there's far too many obstacles. Perhaps I can use the loop in the map. She runs VERY fast, I don't think I'll get more than one shot. But I'll try. My last review got me 200+k debt, and I still hadn't cleared that when I got to this. I'm feeling pretty low. But this is a review, I need to keep going!
And I did. I carefully cleared lots of minions, then used joust-and-run tactics - shoot, long jump the charging opponent, shoot, jump, shoot... and suddenly I could chain-hold her. This indicates she's not a scaled-down AV, but a true EB. I am so happy. I win.
Converted Citizens Clue: zombie-like (add hyphen)
The contact rightly guessed I looked a bit frazzled when I returned, cute!

Mission 4: need comma after my name ($name).
Oh man, your accept message is spot-on: Your sense of humour should help get some people down into those CoT caves. An excellent choice of map in any case, interesting but small. The collections are pretty dense, more fun to collect. Your use of the singular/plural forms on the Nav info is very nice to see. That was a fun search.
Entry popup: As usual, cold... (add comma)

Mission 5: and another nice Accept message.
I will have 5 magical tomes that represent a pentagram. If they actually lie in that pattern, I'll be hugely impressed! Then I have a big-bad. Ominous... hopefully not another incomplete arc for me.
An ally! But he is not aware of me yet, and addresses me as $name. You'll need to fix that.
Galamundorf is using a storm power to push away enemies even before he's rescued. I hadn't seen that before.
And what a battle it was! Without having to worry too much about tactics (Gal' did that part) I just needed to stay alive and contribute.

Felt like a real team fight. We ended up in the hole, falling onto the 5th of the glowies. So overall, very fun even though it was quite short. The 'pentagram' ended up being 4 glowies in a row next to Gal' and big-bad, and one at quite a distance

In summary:

The arc proved fairly straightforward in plot, and rarely had side-goals (although the mission 3 citizens were a nice touch). The combat was good, with custom critters in line with in-game mobs, and final villains that could reasonably be soloed (inevitably, this isn't necessarily true for all ATs). There were touches of brilliance in the dialog, and hopefully my rambling review above helps find some of those, that you might put in more. The contact is pretty cut-and-dried, perhaps you could imbue him with more of a personality. And ultimately make me want to care for the folks I am rescuing / stealing for. I think if you fine-tune this, it becomes a 4. With some creative additions to the overall adventure, perhaps more. For now, I'd say it's a 3 - but surely it is early stages for its development.

Cheers, airhead

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[ QUOTE ]
(until I can figure out how to make some custom Skulls)


[/ QUOTE ]

skulls are easy just use the white skull face make up item, dark melee, martial arts (or mace with a baseball bat) Bam custom skulls

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AE # 67087: Journey through the Looking Glass - Save the World
LLX VirtueVerse! - Check out my crazy Toons
This is the size of group that we have balanced AVs for, 6.
-Positron 06/07/06 07:27 PM

47092, got changed to #72520


JJ

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I delete more 50s, then you'll ever have.
http://www.pandora.com/people/jjdemon

Hey Venture I notice your queue has one of mine list 9028 and the next is 2036 I'm curious if it is actually 9036?

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If anyone has time, I would love to hear what the forum folk have to say about my trilogy:

Soviet Earth 1: 25630
Soviet Earth 2: 1898
Soviet Earth 3: 54547

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I'd like mine reviewed if anyone has some freetime.

Arc Name: Beyond the Door

Arc ID: 73207

Faction: Custom

Challenge: Not sure I did it at lvl 6 and I keep dieing.
lvls 1-54 I would probably suggest at least 8 though.

Synopsis: Enter the realm of madness. Save Dr. Westman before it's too late.

3 Missions, Doesn't seem to take very long.

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I've got a question; you keep using the phrase "Just a bunch of stuff that happens" to describe some of the plots, and although I can kind of pick up what you mean from the context, I'm curious what your actual definition is for it.

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Hey Venture I notice your queue has one of mine list 9028 and the next is 2036 I'm curious if it is actually 9036?

It is 9036 on my written list, sorry for the typo.

I've got a question; you keep using the phrase "Just a bunch of stuff that happens" to describe some of the plots, and although I can kind of pick up what you mean from the context, I'm curious what your actual definition is for it.

A story is "just a bunch of stuff that happened" if it doesn't have any kind of moral, theme or character development to it at all. Humor is an acceptable substitute, as long as it is actually funny. Of course that's subjective. "Hearts on Fire", despite its multitude of sins, does not have this problem, as it has a strong story about unrequited love. "Redoubt Operations I: Fires over Kalago" (just a random example) is an arc that the author very obviously put a lot of work into but has no story beyond "bad guys do bad things until you make them stop".

I swiped the phrase (I think) from "Episode 257-494" of Teen Titans, in which "Control Freak" traps the Titans inside television shows until Beast Boy's superior knowledge of television defeats him. At the end someone says "see what happens when you watch too much TV?" and Starfire points out that they only won because Beast Boy watches too much TV. Raven asks "so, what's the moral here?" and Cyborg says "There isn't one. It was just a bunch of stuff that happened." Cue Everyone Laughs Ending, which quotes the episode differently so maybe I've misremembered the line. I'm sticking with my version though. :-P

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Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"

[ QUOTE ]
I swiped the phrase (I think) from "Episode 257-494" of Teen Titans, in which "Control Freak" traps the Titans inside television shows until Beast Boy's superior knowledge of television defeats him. At the end someone says "see what happens when you watch too much TV?" and Starfire points out that they only won because Beast Boy watches too much TV. Raven asks "so, what's the moral here?" and Cyborg says "There isn't one. It was just a bunch of stuff that happened."

[/ QUOTE ]


This seems to be the most popular review thread, and I was on the fence as to whether I would submit my story arc here (as I fear I hit a lot of tvtropes), but this direct reference to Teen Titans emboldens me to submit for consideration:

Arc Name: Teen Phalanx Forever!
Arc ID: 67335
Faction: Vahzilok, Clockwork, Freakshow, Rogue Robots
Creator Global/Forum Name: @PW / PoliceWoman
Difficulty Level: Moderate; there is one (fairly easy, non-customized) AV/EB per mission, but allies are present to help.
Synopsis: The Teen Phalanx is on a recruitment drive, and they've extended an invitation to a teen version of your hero to try out! Do you have what it takes to join Paragon City's most prestigious teen superhero team?
Morality: Heroic
Estimated Time to Play: 4 missions, estimate 60-90 mins.
Level range: 15-20, 20, 20-25, 29-30 (mission levels gradually increase to "level" you up)

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@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!"

(as I fear I hit a lot of tvtropes)

Tropes are tools and not good or bad on their own. It's how they're used that matters.

That said, I'm still not accepting new arcs. I've got 30-40 to go through. I took a break last night to work on my own stuff (in the sig) but now it's back to the queue.

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Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"

I'd love to get some detailed feedback on my arc:

Arc Name: Matchstick Women
ID: 3369
Missions: 3
Level range: 1-54, but post SOs recommended
Description: A story driven arc following a group of women arsonists that you have been led to by a mysterious flame. One standard diff AV/EB at the end.

Nice detailed reviews so far here.

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Thank you airhead for taking the time to run and review my first arc. I can't believe I missed the title typo of all things. I am usually pretty good spotting things like that. I admit I am no english major and never liked classes in school except maybe spelling.

I appreciate the input and see what I can do about those things you pointed out. I did have to cut down on some of the dialog due to the file size constraint. This may have caused some of the typos. As for the variables for now I will leave them as is. This maybe a bug the same as the captive mob one where their unaware dialog doesn't kick off until your first attack.

I am going to look over your suggestions and tweek what I can. I have printed out your review for reference. Perhaps if and when they allow larger file sizes I can expand on some of the story dialog.

Oh by the way I hate the defeat alls in the regular missions of the game, I have NO plans on making any arc with them.

I will have to see how to fix that unaware variable I must have missed something in the directions. Thanks again and will check out your arc.

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Try out these AE arcs: 58376, 121698 & 143827

Badges? Did someone say badges? Sign me up!

[ QUOTE ]
Hey Venture I notice your queue has one of mine list 9028 and the next is 2036 I'm curious if it is actually 9036?

It is 9036 on my written list, sorry for the typo.

I've got a question; you keep using the phrase "Just a bunch of stuff that happens" to describe some of the plots, and although I can kind of pick up what you mean from the context, I'm curious what your actual definition is for it.

A story is "just a bunch of stuff that happened" if it doesn't have any kind of moral, theme or character development to it at all. Humor is an acceptable substitute, as long as it is actually funny. Of course that's subjective. "Hearts on Fire", despite its multitude of sins, does not have this problem, as it has a strong story about unrequited love. "Redoubt Operations I: Fires over Kalago" (just a random example) is an arc that the author very obviously put a lot of work into but has no story beyond "bad guys do bad things until you make them stop".

I swiped the phrase (I think) from "Episode 257-494" of Teen Titans, in which "Control Freak" traps the Titans inside television shows until Beast Boy's superior knowledge of television defeats him. At the end someone says "see what happens when you watch too much TV?" and Starfire points out that they only won because Beast Boy watches too much TV. Raven asks "so, what's the moral here?" and Cyborg says "There isn't one. It was just a bunch of stuff that happened." Cue Everyone Laughs Ending, which quotes the episode differently so maybe I've misremembered the line. I'm sticking with my version though. :-P

[/ QUOTE ]

This is one of the hard things about using the MA. You want the story to be about the player, or at least I do. But it's difficult to have people accept character development, changes etc. to their characters. So you do it with NPCs...but it's a fine line to walk without turning the arc into a story that's not about the PC.

Games aren't like movies or TV...people generally don't play them to watch attractive people doing interesting things, people play them to BE attractive people doing interesting things.

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Arc #1152, "The Doctor Returns"
tl;dr: 3 stars. Offenses: some plot holes, Tomato In The Mirror ending

The Doctor, the disembodied hacker from the Crey arcs, contacts you in a disguised spam message. She's found something sinister in the Architect system. Preposterous, Positron himself assures us this product of Dr. Aeon and Crey is perfectly safe! What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Well, everything. The Doctor says Crey is using the system to keep digitized heros trapped in compressed files while rematerializing copies loyal to the Countess. She's arranged safe passage into the system for you to prove this. Act I has you save Fusionette from the Council lowbie map. You also have to take out four "Rogue Copies" that think they're the original Fusionette. Now, if I thought the Architect system was xeroxing people, a) you wouldn't catch me inside it on a dare, and b) I'd be reaaaaaaaal careful about destroying "copies" until I was damned sure I knew who and where the originals were.

In Act II, the Doctor tells you that she's created a back door into the MA system that will let you grant yourself administrator privleges. The door is found in an office/caves mission labelled "testing 4 bugz". Despite the nav bar saying "Kill all bugz lol!!1" the subtitle tells you to just ignore them. The "bugz" are Arachnoids, so some builds may want to avoid them as much as possible. There are also some Crey mobs, including Paragon Protector Elites, which again some people are going to want to avoid (for those who haven't had the pleasure, they nova). All you really have to do is find and click on the glowie.

The Doctor informs you that as an administrator your data is no longer being captured by Crey when you enter the system, among other privleges, and sends you to a storage area where several supers are being kept captive. The map is a sewer loaded with Freaks and some Crey mobs. One of the captives is a copy of Ghost Widow, which you just delete rather than take the chance of having two of her run around, and it won't kill her anyway. You also find Fusionette, who claims not to remember anything since exiting "that bugged Council mission", Faultline, who went in after Fusionette, and Positron, who's been trapped ever since entering the system to test it, supposedly explaining why he publicly signed off on technology invented by a mad scientist and marketed by a corporation known to engage in mind control. You must also defeat the system administrator, a Noise Tank named H4XX0R, who has some good lines.

Your next trick is to get a copy of the Doctor's file into the central admin complex, and you've only got 60 minutes to do it. This is a straightforward glowie hunt on a tech map versus Crey mobs. The last act has you enter the system to erase all traces of the Doctor's activity then reboot the system. Doing that requires eliminating two special agents that have been responding to all the Doctor's sightings. The Agents are using Paragon Protector Elite models, so watch out. There is a surprise hostage in the mix, Executable Number 6...who tells you that you are a copy of the original "you" and you'll be deleted when the system is trashed. Sure enough when you exit you get a pop-up saying the last thing you remember is entering the MA system for the first time and getting ambushed by six Ghost Widows. The Doctor says that she'll take over monitoring the MA so it can't be used to xerox people again.

The mission has some clever writing, but the Tomato In The Mirrior ending is cheap and likely to rub people the wrong way. (Besides, what if "you" just abort the arc at that point?) While it does provide an explanation for the insane backstory the devs saddled the Architect with, I'd rather just pretend the backstory doesn't even exist, frankly.

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Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"

I would LOVE for anyone to give me feedback about this arc...

"Fishing for Fame with Red Herring"
Arc #: 66861

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Arc #33034, "The Descender"
tl;dr: 3 stars. Offenses: tedious, overachieving NPCs, impossible to consider as canon

Captain Mako wants you to check up on a strike force he sent off to destroy the Leviathan, following his failed attempt to empower himself in his patron arc. This mission, and all but the last, scale you to the 25-31 range. I decided to run this with Amelia Escobar, my Widow. The map is the Leviathan cave filled with Coralax and "Virtea", a custom faction based on the canon aquatic race the Coralax control. These attack with a variety of electrical, sonic and physical means and include healers. The task force leader you are sent to find is a glowie, a pile of bones. Mako knows nothing of the Virtea, which seems a bit odd given how much he knows about the Coralax, but it's not impossible.

Mako seeks to redress this lack of knowledge in Act II. You are sent to a Circle of Thorns library to "borrow" a book that should have something on the Virtea. Of course, you don't have an Oranbega Library Card. The mission briefing warns you that the Circle has a habit of burning their libraries rather than let anything get stolen from them and you shouldn't let this happen. The Big Bad's room did have several Protect Object objectives but I'd already found the tome in an earlier glowie and none of the Protect objectives were necessary...you just need the glowie and to defeat the Tome Keeper. The Clue is initially disappointingly short but you get an extended one at mission complete. The Tome, it turns out, has a prophecy in it that basically says your trip into the cave marks the end of the Coralax and the start of the Virtea's return to the surface. Oops. In the debriefing it seems you decide not to tell Mako about this (why not?) and claim the library was burned down. He does not even threaten to disembowel you for this.

For Act III Mako is off doing research on his own (which I take to mean he is slaughtering scholars until someone manages to scream something he wants to know moments before being turned into chum). You decided to return to the Leviathan to check out the Tome's story for yourself. This time the Virtea are friendly, fighting the Coralax...and oh look, "Defeat Calystix". Ouch. There are three Boss level allies, though, "Great White" Chieftains of the Virtea. They tell you that the Leviathan spawned their race 60 million years ago (typo: "projenitors") and that only the legend of the Descender (you) has kept them going all this time under the Coralax's rule, which may be contradicting the Coralax entry on the official site, but that's subject to interpretation. Defeating Calystix triggers the spawn of Barracuda with a sizeable number of Arachnos goons. Both tell you repeatedly that trying to fulfill the prophecy would be Bad. In the debriefing you tell Mako that Barracuda is dead; he tells you the Leviathan is awakened and Recluse has called together all the leaders of Arachnos to find a way to stop it.

The briefing for Act IV says Mako is off meeting Recluse, and the Leviathan has destroyed St. Martial (which I happened to be standing on at the time, very inconvenient). You are off to exterminate the Coralax, satisfying the prophecy and (presumably) fulfilling your destiny as the Descender, receiving ultimate power, energy fields bigger than your head, etc. The mission takes place on the Flooded Boomtown map, calling for the defeat of three Shapers. It does offer one ally, a Virtea Elite Boss (Kat/Regen/BadAI, which is not the author's fault of course). One Shaper was defeated by Virtea battlers near his location...I was lucky enough to be nearby and heard his chatter, which said that the Virtea had no ability to prophesize and that I was just someone who blundered into a made-up legend. The other two were in deep denial. When all three (and their guards) were defeated, the mission complete Clue had the Virtea Khan give me the Blood of the Leviathan, supposedly conferring immortality, then asks what you want. You answer that you want domination of the Rogue Isles and eventually the world....

For the last mission, the briefing is given by the Khan, not Mako, who explains the Virtea have taken over an Arachnos submarine base and installed within it some of the "abyss wells" the Coralax used to summon Virtea slaves. These will give you the ability to summon the leaders of Arachnos. The number five is mentioned, implying one for each of the four lieutenants and Recluse himself. You have the help of the Virtea Khan EB again. The first well I found triggered Scirocco's spawn...at the other end of the map. Evidently Coralax teleportation technology is difficult to calibrate.... I took down Scirocco and Black Scorpion without too much trouble thanks the Khan. Mako dropped me at about 15% health. I got him in the rematch. Then the Khan got wedged in the map geometry. Without his help I got Ghost Widow down to about 20% before she got me. On the rematch, the Khan took out her remaining guards and got in a few swipes before he was caught by her uberhold. When that dropped...he ran to the other side of the room and wouldn't come back. I managed to win anyway. That just left Recluse, who again managed to drop me in the first match. The rematch was close, had to pop a green to keep from dying to a DOT at the end, but I won. The debriefing says you have conquered the Rogue Isle, and soon the world...but echoes back to something Ghost Widow said before she died....

The arc has an epic scope, but the gameplay is a little flat in places. NPCs do too much in some places. The last mission in particular is very tedious as you have to run the entire length of the map at least nine times. Because the consequences are so far-reaching it is impossible to consider this as anything other than a holodeck program, unless you want to retire the character afterwards.

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Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"

Arc 46405
The Unmaking, Part 1: Entropic Ascension
Length: 5 missions
Level Range: 40-45
Foes: Banished Pantheon, PPD, Custom
Contact: Mal'Ket (custom)
Rating: 5 Stars
TL-DR:
Pros: Great twist ending, balanced foes, not long for a 5 part arc
Cons: Bad map choices, insulting to player, un-needed allies

Overview:

Mal'Ket, a liason for The Cult of the Golden Chalice is ordered to ask for your help. It seems the Banished Pantheon are close to finding the legendary Urn of Entropy. If the Etropy Shade inside is released the world is doomed.
Upon entering the graveyard where the urn is hidden you are suprised to find the Banished Pantheon fighting amongst themselves. It takes a while but you figure out which urn among many is the one you are looking for. Bad news is its already been opened.
Mal'Ket is very upset with you but gives you a chance to redeem yourself. The Entropy Shade has already begun possessing people and its up to you to put them down....permantly. The kicker is it's begun possesing PPD Psi-cops. Still what must be done must be done. Mal gives you the Amulet of Ocyron so that you do not fall under the shades influence.As you are fighting the PPD you run across a hero named Mr. Glacier. He too has fell prey to the Entropy Shade. With grim determination you melt the Glacier and find the Entropy Shadows vessel, Officer J. She is fully in the spirits power. Knocking her out allows the Darkweavers of the Golden Chalice to take her so an exorcisim can be performed.
Oddly you are invited into the inner chambers of the Cult Of Gold Cups to help with the ritual. Mal'Ket will be your guide in the caves of the cult. When you arrive you are shocked to discover that the Entropy shade is again loose, set free by the traitorous Darkweavers of the cult. You manage to fight your way to a LT of the Shade and bring it down.
Mal is furious but he calms enough to tell you that the possesed cult members who escaped with the Entropy Shade are assaulting the mayors office. Mal gives you some Soul Powder which can be used upon allies to keep them free of the Shades power. Inside you find Valkyrie who is trying to calm some PPD officers. Once you destroy the cops she understands the threat must be ended by any means. Sadly you are too late to catch the Entropy Shade but you are able to stop a LT wielding a very large axe. The Entropy Seer makes a menacing threat upon his defeat that you are now being targeted by the Entropy Shade.
Mal is again upset that the Shade escaped but you have one last chance to catch it. Currently is is gathering its strength in a nearby warehouse. The Cult of Cups will join you inside to fight off this beast. Alas the Cult is possesed despite the Soul Powder...at least they seem to be possesed. Things are getting hazy to you. Steeling your resolve you fight your way past them and as you near the Entropy Shade.....
SPOILERS











Everything becomes clear. You are not meant to protect people, you are to unmake them as the Shades chosen warrior.

Specific Review:
Few of the MA arcs have suprised me, not because I am smart (i'm not as my numerous typos attest to), but because there are few that are suprising. This one is a suprise. The final mission layout is fantastic in its design.

Mission 1: The mission intro and briefing do give you the feeling that Mal'Ket is not happy about having to deal with you. Bravo. And the mission itself is a nice intro to the story without being a tedious time waster.

Mission 2: The level of insults from Mal'Ket were starting to get to me. I was begining to dislike him. Good job on that. In the mission it was nice to find optional rescues that were not on the nav bar. It showed me that Mal wasn't exactly that interested in the loss of life but the end of the problem.

Mission 3: I liked the intro and briefing but was suprised to find a cave as the map. It didn't really feel like a headquarters location. If you can make the map work well maybe use the Midnighters map instead (although with such a well known location people may dislike that) or a generic office map. I am not sure of a good way to fix this but the nav bar gave everything away right from the moment you entered that the Darkweavers were traitors. Maybe wording it a little more ambiguously.
If I may be so bold as to offer a suggestiong here. Perhaps put in a few defend item objectives that are not required. I mean the Entroy guys are about unmaking AKA destroying why not have them break stuff. Just a thought.

Mission 4: The only problem I have here is the map choice. The green fog map is eerie but the Entropy guys just got to that location and it is already that corrupted? Whats worse, the last map has none of the green fog making this location seem more suitable for the last map. Also valkyrie is completely un-needed. Her presence made me thing the final boss in the mission was going to be a brutal overpowered borefest (it isnt). maybe instead of Valk use a PPD boss thats being possesed till you save them. Just a thought.

Mission 5: As I said I loved the twist here and the way you pulled it off was great. As I said, this mission is the one I would use the green fog map on. The green fog map is also larger which means you can throw more clues as to the twist. Things like unmarked and optional bosses fights, patrols ect all of which can say something.

I loved this mission and suggest it to pretty much everyone now. Even if you were to ignore my suggestions (not to say they are great suggestions just random ideas) the arc stand up beautifully. Very well done.

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