The best I have played. I highly suggest playing it. It is suitable for any character over 25. (does contain an EB/AV but it is far from a difficult foe
Arc 4431
Soldiers of Fortune
Length: 5 missions
Foes: Skyraiders, Arachnos, Security Guards, PPD, custom
Level Range: 20-35, 20-35, 30-35, 20-35, 31-35
Contact: Darrin Wade
Rating: 5 STARS
TL-DR
Pros: Excellent writing, Excellent story, Follows canon, Excellent choices of maps, Great story flow, Excellent use of Contact, Great use of allies, Well balanced foes (minor nit), Excellent foe concept, Strong consideration for the player in the missions. Overall an almost perfect arc.
Cons: Ummm....hmmmm....uhhh....The arc name is a bit weak?
Overview I will be very brief in the overview for this arc as it may ruin the suprises/enjoyment of it for others.
Darrin Wade calls upon you to obtain a few pieces of art. In exchange he will allow you to keep the most powerful item for yourself. In doing so you end up being caught in the middle of two mercenary forces trying to get the item for their mysterious employers. On one side you have the Skyraiders. On the other is a European group called Paradign Company. Paradign Company is a group of meta human mercs for sale to the highest bidder.
You begin trying to get the items for Darrin in a warehouse before they are on display. In other words when they are at their most vulnerable. You arrive to find Paradign has taken the item promised to you and the Skyraiders are in pursuit.
Darrin continues to help you as he promised payment that you did not get. he tracks the Skyraiders and Paradign (easily) to a pitch battle in the streets of Paragon. Using the distraction you attempt to recovery the item only to find the Skyraiders now have it.
Using the clues found at the battle you learn the Skyraiders at at a old portal lab they restored to working order. Darrin explains a bit more about the art he had you aquire saying that he can use it to summon 'help' for you. Fighting through the base you discover who had hired the Skyraiders but the quick intervention of Paradign has the item again in their hands.
Tired of chasing others Darrin divines the location where the Paradign company make base. You hack the computer inside to learn where the item will be exchanged with their employers will be and to send false info that the Paradign soldiers with the item are being followed (ensuring they slow down trying to loose pursuit). Again Darrin send 'help'.
The final confrontation where all is made clear occurs in an old Arachnos submarine base.
Specific review:
In all honesty there are only two things I can think of to point out as problems. And both are no better than nit-picking. One is in the first mission there does not seem to be any real reason to have to defeat the skyraider boss once you get the art and find out Paradign escaped with the other item. Perhaps in the clue include that the skyraiders may have the item or something. The second is the use of /devices. A minion in the paradign company uses this but of all the missions I have played these foes seemed to spam the webnades the least. In the 5 (yes five) times I ran this arc today they were never a real issue apart from two spawns that had multiples of the minion with /devices. Every other encounter was not an issue.
Mission 1: The mission intro and briefing were very good here. Upon reading the mission title and seeing Darrin Wade as a contact I got worried as the connection between mercs and Darrin confused me. But as you can tell my worries were completly unfounded.
Mission 2: The writing for Darrin was very good here. He gave a very in character reason (and subtle clues to true motives) for continuing to work with you after he had gotten what he wanted. I was very very impressed by the fact Darrin acknowledges your character as someone with a reputaion. To paraphrase he tells you to watch out for cops who may be preoccupied with the battle raging but with you reputaion they will still be after you. Also the map choice and mission design was as near to perfect I think can be done. The author used a common farming map (the outdoor demon farm map). This map allows for spawns to happen very close to one another. The author filled most spawn points with programed battles and those battles have KB using foes so they just spilled into one another. The result was a chaotic mess that lent itself well to a raging battle. I am not sure if you knew the battles would spill into one another or not but I suspect you did.
Mission 3: The writing again was impressive here. Let me explain why it was so good for a moment. The author realized that to keep the player interested in the arc there has to be something in it for them. So the missions all focus on that aspect. But the author also had another story to tell...or rather retell if you will. The original mission, some of Darrins exposition and small aspects of missions all relate to the second story in which Darrin is the star. This allowed the player to enjoy chasing his goals while still being involved in the other story. The use of an ally in this mission was handled beautifully. Darrin himself says you don't need the help (it's true you don't) but he wants to test his new spell. He summons a creature you may have guessed to be a part of the story by this point to help you.
Mission 4: It was great to see a story that gets tired of reacting and decides to act first. The plan to slow the Paradign thieves down to give you time to beat them to the meeting point is very well written and you actually felt like you were being proactive (even though the very nature of the missions make this an impossibility). There are also VERY subtle clues dropped for the hyper vigilant ( I am not hyper vigilant, I just played the arc many many times today).
Mission 5: There is only one thing I noted in this mission. The allies Darrin sends in to help you this mission do not have the custom text as they did in previous missions. I am not sure if this was intentional so as to give even more info to the players or if it was an oversite.
I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed this arc. It is simply the best MA arc I have played and I would even go so far as to say it is better than most of the dev made arcs. It is a tragedy that this arc has only had 13 plays to its name. If anyone is looking for an arc in the 25ish to 35ish range then PLAY THIS ONE.
Arc #19226, "City of Oz pt 1"
tl;dr: 2 stars. Offenses: not funny, not self-contained, humor arc with EBs.
Dorothy Galewind, transported to Paragon City by a freak tornado accident in a poppy field, needs your help finding her friends. She's sure they didn't just ditch her because she's too cute and perky. They were planning to go see the Lizard of Odd together. First on the list is Flarecrow, who is guarding his farm from invaders. The farm is a Croatoa map, of course, and the invaders are crow people. Queens (LTs) are Plant Controllers, not sure of secondary, Minions are Dark Melee/Dark Armor or Sonic Blast/Sonic Resonance. The Elite Boss is "Murder Master", Dark Melee/Dark Armor, whose info consists of an overblown equivocation between "homicide" and "gang of crows". Flarecrow is an escort.
Next up (I'm skipping a lot of the jokes here because frankly, they're not all that funny), you are asked to save the Aluminium Lumberjack from Rust Eaters. When you try to tell Dorothy aluminium doesn't rust you get more of those unfunny jokes. The gist of it is to show that Dorothy is an idiot. You are following her orders. Remainder of proof left as an exercise for the reader.... The Rust Eaters were sufficiently uninteresting that I don't even remember what attacks most of them used. The Rust King had some dialog that was almost cute.
The story is continued in part 2, the author feeling that he shouldn't have to "compromise" his work to fit all five missions into one arc. Um, yeah. I'll get to the rest later....
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 know you probably won't get to it for weeks, but here's but humble submission for arc-hood.
Arc Name: The End of All things
Arc ID: 85556
Faction: Several Custom
Creator Global/Forum Name: @The Combat
Difficulty Level: Medium-Hard (contains some EBs, and 1 AV that should be easy because of allies and a final AV that doesn't need to be fought.)
Synopsis: You are recruited to destroy a universe where all things are personified by a spell. You fight Time, Earth, and save Life. Pretty simple plot, probably Idiot balls the player at the end with a well-duh point.
Estimated Time to Play: around 30-45 min
TW/Elec Optimization
If you'd like, here's my arc submitted for reviewing. I could certainly use any feedback, especially about the custom group and the writing.
Arc Name: The Oblivion Lens
Arc ID: 91897
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: Mr Beatdown/GahLakTus
Difficulty Level: Difficult, not impossible. Does contain an archvillian and may be difficult to solo for team-optimized characters.
Synopsis: What starts out as a battle against the Circle of Thorns turns into something far more dire when a mysterious artifact is recovered. Five missions pit the player against the Circle of Thorns, the Council, and a custom group. Only one defeat all mission.
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Arc #19226, "City of Oz pt 1"
tl;dr: 2 stars. Offenses: not funny, not self-contained, humor arc with EBs.
Dorothy Galewind, transported to Paragon City by a freak tornado accident in a poppy field, needs your help finding her friends. She's sure they didn't just ditch her because she's too cute and perky. They were planning to go see the Lizard of Odd together. First on the list is Flarecrow, who is guarding his farm from invaders. The farm is a Croatoa map, of course, and the invaders are crow people. Queens (LTs) are Plant Controllers, not sure of secondary, Minions are Dark Melee/Dark Armor or Sonic Blast/Sonic Resonance. The Elite Boss is "Murder Master", Dark Melee/Dark Armor, whose info consists of an overblown equivocation between "homicide" and "gang of crows". Flarecrow is an escort.
Next up (I'm skipping a lot of the jokes here because frankly, they're not all that funny), you are asked to save the Aluminium Lumberjack from Rust Eaters. When you try to tell Dorothy aluminium doesn't rust you get more of those unfunny jokes. The gist of it is to show that Dorothy is an idiot. You are following her orders. Remainder of proof left as an exercise for the reader.... The Rust Eaters were sufficiently uninteresting that I don't even remember what attacks most of them used. The Rust King had some dialog that was almost cute.
The story is continued in part 2, the author feeling that he shouldn't have to "compromise" his work to fit all five missions into one arc. Um, yeah. I'll get to the rest later....
[/ QUOTE ]
I appreciate your willingness to try out the arc. One of the difficulties with humor is that what seems funny to one person all too often is distinctly lacking in humor to the next. In recognition of this fact I hereby withdraw my request to review parts 2 and 3 of the City of Oz arc.
There is no real need for you to review them as undoubtedly you will be of the same opinion since they follow the same format as the first one. I do sincerely appreciate your time and believe it would be better spent on other people who are as eager as I was to hear your opinion of their efforts.
Once again, thank you for your consideration and time in playing my arc.
~Steelclaw
My mind wanders so often you've probably seen its picture on milk cartons. - Me... the first person version of the third person Steelclaw
Arc #4727, "Future Skulls"
tl;dr: 4 stars. Offenses: minor plot issues, a bit heavy-handed, possibly annoying maps
Mirror Spirit has had a premonition of Skulls implementing some plan that leads to destroying the city. She has called upon you to investigate. The first lead takes you to a Skull hideout. (I dropped my difficulty to CL2 for this and used my second build as the level range caps at 14.) The map is a version of the burning Hellions map I hadn't seen before. Bonesnap (Boss) is present but not required. You have to search some bookcases to find a tome the clue describes as "disturbing".
You don't get to find out what you discovered until the Act II briefing. The Skulls have decided that the best way to cause lots of destruction is to waker Merulina, the "goddess" of the Coralax. It's not really clear why they want to do this, as random destruction has never been a big thing for the Skulls. In any case, they've devised a ritual to try it and while Mirror Spirit can't tell if it will work, she is sure that it will be Bad if they try. She's got the Midnight Squad working on the ritual and wants you to hit a Coralax cavern to look for clues. The map is a Cimerora cave map. Almost immediately I ran into "The Guard" (one of Calsytyx's pets, a Boss) saying "Can't have it!". Whatever "it" is...is not here. There are several glowies to search but not yield anything productive.
For Act III it's time for an act of desparation...Mirror Spirit has made arrangements with the Midnight Squad to use their Aspect of the Pillar to send you to the future she witnessed in her premonition in the hopes of finding out what happened. The map is the flooded Boomtown map. I quickly found a "Bride of Death", described as "filled with darkness, forced to kill to stay alive". She was a Dark Blast/Dark Armor Boss and on her death she thanked me for stopping her. In a Clue she tells you when and where the ceremony took place and gives you a dagger charged with magic.
The Act IV briefing contains a narrative about you waiting for the scrying results, followed by Mirror Spirit telling you that they've found the target near Salamanca and you have to be there to stop it -- any who try without your aid will fail. Neither she nor any of the Squad who helped her can go as "something dark" fought their efforts, draining them all and killing some. This is a bit heavy-handed, as I think we can expect the player will want to finish the arc by this point and if he doesn't he's not. You are also warned the mission is timed, though you aren't given the exact time limit (1 hour) pre-acceptance. The map is one of the Croatoa maps. You have to defeat Bonesnap and rescue two hostages, both familiar: Penelope Yin and Yanamari (from the Bonefire arc). Both women complain their powers have been drained. Bonesnap is now a custom Boss, Mace/Dark Armor in a bone motif costume. He was a bit of a pushover; it might be a good idea to turn up his powers a little or even promote him to Elite Boss. On completion Mirror Spirit tells you she will stay alert for more possible threats from whatever power the Skulls were contacting, as she doubts it will be satisfied with only one attempt at destruction. The story has a sequel in #70801, "Simple Times".
I had good luck with spawn placements on the two outdoor maps, but I could easily see those maps becoming major annoyances if the spawns aren't as conveniently located. The Croatoa map is moody but geographically too far from where the devastation is supposed to take place -- I'd recommend using the coastline instance from Talos. And Act IV's briefing lays it on a bit thick. Otherwise it's a pretty good arc.
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 #2019, "Have a Blap, Blap, Blappy Day Kids!"
tl;dr: 3 stars. Offenses: poorly written canon character
The Television says Blappy, Paragon City's most beloved superhero kids' show host, is missing, and must be found before her 4:30 show time. Berle, an executive at WPAR, may know something, so off you go. The station's offices are filled with Nemesis troops when you get there, and you find a discarded DVD with footage of Blappy, an executive and Nemesis (or a Fake). Berle is an Assault Rifle/Willpower Boss and tells you on defeat the Blappy show is as good as cancelled. On your return, the Television says "Not another Nemesis plot! I hear TVs clicking off all over Paragon!"
In Act II the Television has determined the footage on the DVD was shot at a warehouse often used on the series "R.I.P.s". Blappy's sidekick Bright Angel has gone ahead but hasn't reported back, so you're to go in after her. This being a Nemesis plot I turned the gain up on my Idiot Ball Radar.... The warehouse is filled with Freaks and other groups, including Arachnos and Elder Snakes. On her rescue, Bright Angel just runs away, saying "Blappy is evil and I am NOT a sidekick!" (Her info complains her action figure sales are only 15% of Blappy's.) One patrolling Jaeger says "I am through with Nemesis! That guy has more failed plans than the government!" The target Boss is "Junkyard Dog" (Boss, Super Strength/Invulnerability) and his "Canine Cabal" guards, whose info implies are the product of Crey's less than ethical animal research. Also along for the ride was an "Injudicator" (Mace/Shield) android, built by a mad doctor named Four Eyes. One of them dropped a Clue, an access card for the Injustice Legion's headquarters. (The Injustice Legion is a VG on Triumph; Four Eyes and Junkyard Dog are listed as members. I'm assuming at least some of the rest of these characters are author/author's SG inserts.)
The Television slips a little in the Act III briefing in which you're sent after the Injustice Legion, whom have stolen Blappy from Nemesis: "The access pass you found should let you onto the set, er warehouse where Blappy is being held." IdiotCon 3 and rising.... Bright Angel is supposed to meet you there and "not go all after school special on you this time". The warehous is filled with Injudicators and Junkyard Puppies (also SS/Invul), which are said to be "more of Junkyard Dog's innumerable spawn"...I Do Not Want To Know what he's spawning these with. Bright Angel has a question mark after her name (IdiotCon 2...) and is an Icey Assault/Ice Control Boss who says "Let's bring Blappy to justice once and for all!" Okaaaaaay.... Upon clicking a computer glowie, the mission objective changes from "Free Blappy" to "Defeat Sis Boom Ba", whose password you need to decrypt the email you just found. "Sis" is a berserk ex-cheerleader, Energy Melee/Regeneration Boss. She did pop Instant Healing on agro but only being a Boss I was able to outdamage her regen. Once decrypted, the email turns out to be an initiaion for the Injustice Legion's newest member, Blappy, at a new location due to hero meddling.
Television claims this is Blappy attempting to pull a sting on the Injustice Legion. That remains to be seen in Act IV as you're sent in to help her in a 30 minute timed mission on a Council map. As it turns out, Blappy (Ice Blast/Energy Manipulation Elite Boss) really hates children and is tired of everyone interpreting everything she does as heroic. Bright Angel has gone Axe Crazy as well and changed her name to Sideshow Sally (still a Boss). You also get to deal with Wrong Number, a Dark Blast/DiedTooFast Boss. Sure enough at the end, Television says that the Injustice Legion brainwashed Blappy and Bright Angel was behind it all along!
It's a cute arc, and the inserts aren't objectionable. Television is written way off, though. It simply talks directly, not through television shows as it does in its canon arc. I'd bump it up another star if the writing on the Contact was improved.
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"
IF you get a chance, I'd like to have arc 12612, "A fox in the Henhouse" by @foxboy reviewed. If not, no problem. You're supposed to be having fun at this, after all. 
"Oh, I'm sorry, was my immersive collaborative fictional improv stepping on your gold-farming? Did my six paragraphs of evocative prose lag your dual-box setup? In the words of one of my favorite teen-years cultural icons.... WELL, EXCUUUUUUUSEEE MEEEE!!!" -- Cuppa_Soul
Arc #2019, "Have a Blap, Blap, Blappy Day Kids!"
tl;dr: 3 stars. Offenses: poorly written canon character
Thanks for the review. You did I think miss an important story point I think: Bright Angel was the good one and Blappy was/is evil. The fact that no one can see this simple fact drove Bright Angel mad. The brainwashing explanation just continues that misinformation.
WN
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
I had submitted my arc for review last week, but it didn't make the queue, and since then, the arc ID number has changed and I have edited it many times. I'd appreciate the feedback, when time is available, from anyone who would like to try it out. It can be searched by the following criteria:
Name: Th3 Wr3ck1ng Cr3w
Author: @Enervas
Arc ID: 54297
Thanks very much!
@Enervas
Virtue Server
You did I think miss an important story point I think: Bright Angel was the good one and Blappy was/is evil. The fact that no one can see this simple fact drove Bright Angel mad. The brainwashing explanation just continues that misinformation.
No, I got that. I did say Bright Angel went Axe Crazy.
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 humbly submit my arc for review:
Arc Name: Reflection of Spirit
Arc ID: 66477
Faction: Tsoo
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Radionuclide
Difficulty Level: Medium (one EB at the end)
Synopsis: Help Mirror Spirit recover someone important
Estimated Time to Play: 1-2 hours
--Rad
/whereami:
I'd like to put mine up for review
Arc Title: Heroes at War - 1944
Arc ID: 77928
Morality: Heroic
Enemy groups: 5th Column, Storm Korps (custom)
Description: Play through some of the key American led battles of WWII in the European theatre, with a twist - this alternate history includes metahumans fighting on both sides of the war. It's you against the Storm Korps!
<.<
Arc: Too Drunk To Be Alcoholic
ID: 48942
Morality: Heroic
Level Range: 30+
Enemy Groups: Crey, Freaks, Custom
Missions: 5, small-medium map sizes
EB/AVs: Missions 3 and 5, both give ally assistance.
Description: Dark Lancer needs someone to save a friend of his, but soon uncovers a deeper conspiracy.
Current Published Arcs
#1 "Too Drunk to be Alcoholic" Arc #48942
#2 "To Slay Sleeping Dragons" Arc #111486
#3 "Stop Calling Me"
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Arc #10855, "Tomorrow Belongs to Me"
tl;dr: 4 stars. Offenses: bugged mobs, semi-gratuitous faction, throws the Idiot Ball, "just a bunch of stuff that happened"
...Things start getting hairy in the second mission, which is where the "Fifth Column Special Projects" mobs start showing up. This adds healers, psi damage and unfortunately some very buggy Ninjitsu mobs, which really should have been changed out at least until the bugs are fixed. These mobs are likely to be particularly troublesome for squishier builds when teamed with the aforementioned healers. The Special Projects sub-faction is semi-gratuitous; adding the buggy ones pushes it over the edge.
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I read your review after running this arc, and agree with most everything you said. There were WTF moments when we got one-shotted by the Assassin Lts. On the final map, your patriotic ally would actually go past the Schatten to fight the rest of the spawn... Every time! Its like he knew they were bugged. It became funny after awhile.
And why would you get auto'ed down to 45 for no reason on last map? I wanted my full lvl 50 arsenal available.
That said, this was the best 5th Column story I've seen to date. And one of the most fun arcs in AE so far.
I don't think the faction is gratuitous as much as an extension of the existing 5th Column. The new mobs are so well designed (except the buggy assassin), I can see them fitting in the main game. Robotenmeister was a favorite.
Also a sleeper cell makes perfect sense. Its the very definition of a 5th column, in this case a 5th within the 5th.
Are we allowed to coin new tropes? Here's a possible one. The Green Lantern. When Green Lantern/Hal Jordan was replaced by Green Lantern/Kyle Rayner there was an uproar from the fanbase. The DC editors responded by saying where were all you fans when we needed to sell comics? If you loved Hal so much, why weren't you buying his comics?
GL/Kyle turned out to be popular.
Posi said, as of 4/17, there were 794 arcs with the 5th in them. I'm guessing it's closer to a thousand by now. Would players be as nostalgic about them if they had not been removed from the game, and had been here all along?
That's the Green Lantern trope.
I have just gotten word that i need to be re-located at work (nothing bad). As a result I am going to be slow with reviews for at least a week while I move.
My current Queue is:
1589, 71523, 60280, 13579, 68930, 75386
Sorry about this but real life wins over CoH (sometimes).
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Arc 17702
Every Rose...
Length: 5 missions
Foes: Vahzilok, Legacy Chain, Security Guards, RIP, Tuatha de Damnon, Coralax
Level Range: (New way to list level range) 1-40, 1-15, 5-10, 5-30, 5-9
Contact: Polyana Hawthorne (custom)
Rating: 3 stars
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the review! I also recently got relocated at work, oddly enough. In any case, I will be making a few adjustments, and I will let you know when it is done. See you soon!
Story Arcs I created:
Every Rose: (#17702) Villainous vs Legacy Chain. Forget Arachnos, join the CoT!
Cosplay Madness!: (#3643) Neutral vs Custom Foes. Heroes at a pop culture convention!
Kiss Hello Goodbye: (#156389) Heroic vs Custom Foes. Film Noir/Hardboiled detective adventure!
Arc #34452, "Future Foretold"
tl;dr: One star. Offenses: legion, read the review.
The Architect of this arc has requested that I review it without divulging the plot. After due consideration I decided to honor this request this one time. In the future I will not. In future reviews I will discuss whatever details I think are necessary to give readers an accurate review. If you don't want spoilers don't read my reviews; if you don't want your arc spoiled don't ask me to review it.
The first problem is that the arc is listed as "Neutral" but the Contact is an Arachnos Arbiter, who addresses you as if you're a typical villain. The second problem is that that Act I briefing continues the narrative from the Info listing in the database. I chose to bail at that point and swap to a villain, my Widow (Amelia Escobar/Virture). The first mission is timed and contains an AV with no clear warning. It has a Clue that doesn't have any text (there is a mission-end Clue with hardly any text). The map contains multiple placed Boss spawns, one of which was pretty much on top of the Big Bad.
The second mission continues in this vein. Multiple Boss spawns (all large) with an implied escort so I didn't stealth it (it turns out it wasn't an escort). Adding to the misery, the Bosses are all PPD Khelds with Longbow backup so I had to deal with -Defense too. Act III brings Malta into the picture (no explanation) and has two mandatory EB allies just to ensure you don't get any tickets or XP.
The last mission calls for you to destroy Recluse (and explains what Malta was doing there after the fact). You get Stateman as an ally. I don't really care at this point if the Architect considers that a spoiler. I just ran around stealthed and let Statesman kill everything.
Frankly, there is nothing to spoil. The plot is a bare skeleton and completely transparent. There is hardly any text or writing at all. It does have a theme, so I can't hit it for being "just a bunch of stuff that happened". The problem is it doesn't do anything with it, really. There is just no there, there.
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"
If you get a chance - want to review my arc?
Arc Name: The Ballad of Murky Thecat
Arc ID: 77311
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: BinkDeBook
Synopsis: This is the story of Murky Thecat. A black cat with a lot of potential.
This arc was created in memory and to honor the original Murky Thecat (Apr 1998 - Jan 2008). This Arc takes you through her "life" in a fun way. And end with you helping to defeat the monster that beat her in real life. In this way she gets to live on forever and win against the monster.
Thanks in advance!
Take Care,
BinkDeBook
Virtue: CaptainMayhem-50 Inv/SS Tank; NaomiArmitage-50 DM/Inv Scrap; Captn Randomizer-50 MC/Kin Cntrller; Murky Thecat-50 Claws/SR Scrap; Professor Junk-50 Bots/Traps MM; +Others Arc Id #77311, #227436
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Arc #4727, "Future Skulls"
tl;dr: 4 stars. Offenses: minor plot issues, a bit heavy-handed, possibly annoying maps
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Thanks for the review.
[ QUOTE ]
Mirror Spirit has had a premonition of Skulls implementing some plan that leads to destroying the city. She has called upon you to investigate. The first lead takes you to a Skull hideout. (I dropped my difficulty to CL2 for this and used my second build as the level range caps at 14.) The map is a version of the burning Hellions map I hadn't seen before. Bonesnap (Boss) is present but not required. You have to search some bookcases to find a tome the clue describes as "disturbing".
[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, it is a Skulls hideout, or it is supposed to be. That is why the Superadine vials all over the place.
[ QUOTE ]
You don't get to find out what you discovered until the Act II briefing. The Skulls have decided that the best way to cause lots of destruction is to waker Merulina, the "goddess" of the Coralax. It's not really clear why they want to do this, as random destruction has never been a big thing for the Skulls.
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While we usually just see the Skulls doing the street gang thing, or trying to break into the big time organized crime scene, their backstory says "They are a death cult, of sorts, who seek personal glory and power through death, no matter whose." While most of the Bone Daddies settle for the turf wars, I wanted a story about one that was shooting for the really big time.
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For Act III it's time for an act of desparation...Mirror Spirit has made arrangements with the Midnight Squad to use their Aspect of the Pillar to send you to the future she witnessed in her premonition in the hopes of finding out what happened. The map is the flooded Boomtown map. I quickly found a "Bride of Death", described as "filled with darkness, forced to kill to stay alive". She was a Dark Blast/Dark Armor Boss and on her death she thanked me for stopping her. In a Clue she tells you when and where the ceremony took place and gives you a dagger charged with magic.
The Act IV briefing contains a narrative about you waiting for the scrying results, followed by Mirror Spirit telling you that they've found the target near Salamanca and you have to be there to stop it -- any who try without your aid will fail. Neither she nor any of the Squad who helped her can go as "something dark" fought their efforts, draining them all and killing some. This is a bit heavy-handed, as I think we can expect the player will want to finish the arc by this point and if he doesn't he's not. You are also warned the mission is timed, though you aren't given the exact time limit (1 hour) pre-acceptance. The map is one of the Croatoa maps. You have to defeat Bonesnap and rescue two hostages, both familiar: Penelope Yin and Yanamari (from the Bonefire arc). Both women complain their powers have been drained. Bonesnap is now a custom Boss, Mace/Dark Armor in a bone motif costume. He was a bit of a pushover; it might be a good idea to turn up his powers a little or even promote him to Elite Boss. On completion Mirror Spirit tells you she will stay alert for more possible threats from whatever power the Skulls were contacting, as she doubts it will be satisfied with only one attempt at destruction. The story has a sequel in #70801, "Simple Times".
I had good luck with spawn placements on the two outdoor maps, but I could easily see those maps becoming major annoyances if the spawns aren't as conveniently located. The Croatoa map is moody but geographically too far from where the devastation is supposed to take place -- I'd recommend using the coastline instance from Talos. And Act IV's briefing lays it on a bit thick. Otherwise it's a pretty good arc.
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I know the maps can be a problem for low levels. I am actively working on finding a better map for the 3rd mission. I think I have one now that I am going to ask a couple of people to test for me. I will check the Talos map, to see how it looks for the last mission.
I emphasized the player's importance on the last mission because I wanted to place him front and center. Can't call in Statesman or Synapse, he has to go or it ends. Sure the player will probably want to see the final mission, but I wanted it to feel like his character was vital for it. The power draining and deaths were to keep Mirror Spirit & the Midnight Squad from rushing out to help. They have been searching hard for the ritual, of course they will rush out to save the world when they find the place and time. Unless they can't.
Bonesnap in the last mission has been a real pain. He was harder, but was taking out squishies fairly easily. Now he is too easy for some folks. I am afraid it is a case of Rock, Paper, Scissors with him. But I will try some more tweaking.
Justice Blues, Tech/Tank, Inv/SS
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Fighting The Future Trilogy
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I would like to submit the following arc for review, when the time comes:
The Broken Chain
Arc ID: 81378
Faction: heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Sermon
Difficulty Level: available 1-50, medium difficulty (EBs and an AV, not extreme)
Synopsis: The Legacy Chain has been compromised since its inception when one of the founders, the pure and idealistic Adrastus, was overcome by shadows. Now, centuries later, Adrastus is trying to wipe out the Chain and they need your help to stop him (low level friendly, EBs & AV)
Estimated Time to Play: 4 missions, 45-60 minutes
Sermon
@sermon
One of Six, Cannibal 6
Arc #8713, "Ragnarok: Twilight of the Gods"
tl;dr: 4 stars. Offenses: problematic mobs
Odin offers you a chance to join the Einherjar, his honored warriors, while still alive, if you can earn it. It's not really clear why I'd want to, but OK.... First test is to beat a Valkyrie. I spotted the Valkyrie quickly enough on the Croatoa map...she was mauling an Einherjar patrol. I'm guessing this is the "eternal battle" aspect of Valhalla.... She was a Dual Blades/Willpower EB. It quickly became obvious I couldn't outdamage her regen on the Widow I was using, which is not surprising. I gave it a second try with a few red inspirations, didn't help much. I was tempted at this point to just pull the plug -- Willpower EBs are not a good sign -- but I decided to give it another chance and switched to Venture/Virtue. Incidently, there is something like an EB warning after you accept the mission, but it really doesn't make sense here. If I'm being tested for worthiness shouldn't I have to fight without allies? Anyway, it took a while but she finally snuffed it.
Odin next wants you to do battle with monsters, specifically Fenris, Hel and Jourmagund. Jourmagund is identified as being the Leviathan and having sired snake-men upon Stheno, which really doesn't work for me, but moving on... The mission takes place in the Leviathan Cave map, of course. You are to defeat Hel and Fenris. You get a small army of Einherjar LTs to help. Hel is a Necro/Dark AV, Fenris a Claws/Willpower AV (sigh...).
In the next mission you are to go after Loki himself. Odin warns you that in Loki's prison "friends may enemies and enemies may be friends". What happens next is exactly what you think: you go in, rescue a "hostage" from "traitors" who needs to be escorted out...now, who could he be, oh, I don't know, could he be...SAT^H^H^HLOKI? Yep! Fortunately the Architect avoids throwing the Idiot Ball here: a large ambush of Einherjar shows up and if you're smart (I was) you'll back off and let the "hostage" tank it himself. He's only an LT and dies quickly. You "fail" the mission and get a popup saying you actually succeeded. Unfortunately in the debriefing Odin reveals that Failure Is The Only Option: after you left one of the other Einherjar freed Loki (typo: "disception").
Now that Loki is on the loose Ragnarok is near. Loki, Hel, Fenris, Surt and Hymir all have to be defeated, and Odin can't send the gods in to do it because that will trigger Ragnarok. Surtur is a Fire Control/Fiery Aura AV; fortunately he does not get Rise of the Phoenix. This was nevertheless a very annoying fight because he was surrounded by Granites, the Devouring Earth LTs that drop +resist eminators. You've pretty much got to clear them out first. Next up was Hel, who didn't do very well. The next one I found was Hymir the Frost Giant, who appeared to be an Icy Assault/Cold Domination AV. Neither he nor Fenris lasted all that long, though I did burn Elude on Fenris. That just left Loki...though the nav bar said "Defeat Fenris". Earlier on I bypassed a "Mr. Locke" standing around with a bunch of Malta. I did thumbtack his location just in case.... His /info basically said Definitely Not A Trickster God. A Valkyrie EB Ally had spawned next to him, so I set her free first. Unfortunately she promptly tore off and attacked a previously-unagroed spawn of ghosts. Locke's guards included a pair of Hercules Titans, which merged into a Zeus. Locke himself was a Mind Controller...not sure of the secondary. I burned Elusive Mind to deal with the unpositioned attacks. He summoned another wave of Malta when he got low, but by then Elude was back up so I hit that and finished the mission. In the last debriefing Odin tells you the monsters are imprisoned again and Ragnarok delayed for another thousand years.
This is a pretty good arc. I particularly note the way the Architect gives the player a chance to dodge the Idiot Ball. It would have gotten five stars out of me if not for the Willpower EBs.
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"
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This was nevertheless a very annoying fight because he was surrounded by Granites, the Devouring Earth LTs that drop +resist eminators. You've pretty much got to clear them out first.
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Unless I am totally wrong, the emanators don't buff the resists of anyone but other Devouring Earth. So that shouldn't have been too big of a problem.
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This is a pretty good arc. I particularly note the way the Architect gives the player a chance to dodge the Idiot Ball. It would have gotten five stars out of me if not for the Willpower EBs.
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I'd like to mention to the author of this arc that if you set willpower to standard, they don't get ridiculous regen, but still get the resistances and defenses from willpower. In fact, I'd like to point that out to everyone making arcs. Don't set your willpower higher than standard.
Well I do have one, but I think it is honestly lost in the typos and plot holes from unorganized revisions. I think cleaning it up will help immensely.