Thank you for the Review.
I figured I'd be seeing the stuff happened remark, so I'm not concerned about that. I'll comment otherwise in-line...
[ QUOTE ]
Arc #5299, "Magic, Mystery and Mayhem"
tl;dr: 3 stars. Offenses: problematic mobs, "just a bunch of stuff that happened", no closure
Agatha Deserie, Cabal member and Midnighter, asks you to help investigate the theft of magical antiques. The entry text on the first mission was "It seems quiet...too quiet". Ouch. The first mobs sighted were "Magical Assistant" (typo in /info: "preform") Minions and Trained Assistant Lieutenants. Minions come in Martial Arts/Willpower, Energy Melee/Devices and Illusion/Super Reflexes; Lieutenants are Dual Blades/Super Reflexes and Psychic Blast/Illusion Control. You can pretty much forget about stealth. There was an embarassing outcome of the random spawn system: the Lead Assistant (Gravity Control/Super Strength Boss) was shouting for his goons to "find the antique", which was in the safe five feet behind him. The item turned out to be a set of manacles used by Bombardi, a stage magician in the late 19th century. You have to find those, rescue two hostages (no escort) and defeat the aforementioned Big Bad. All the crooks claim to work for the "Mystery Magician".
[/ QUOTE ]
Yea, the Safe is a problem at times. I've had it right by the Boss; In the upper floor room in the back; In the 'T' room. So I know what your refering to.
Thanks for catching that typo. I thought I had checked everything on test.
[ QUOTE ]
Agatha determines the Magician's next target in Act II, a museum exhibition of stage magician props from about 100 years ago. You are sent in to safeguard it. You have to recover four of Bombardi's props, rescue two hostages (one of them a hero), secure 2 antiques (protect glowie objectives) and take down "The Radiant Glinda" Owens, Heist Ringleader (Mind Control/Psychic Blast). The hero is Bowen Alacard of the "King's Legacy" supergroup, a Gravity Control/Kinetics Boss. There are also a few Circle of Thorns patrols to deal with.
Ms. Owens, as it happens, is a new arrival to Paragon City. She was touring the country which makes Agatha think she may have been associating with this "Mystery Magician" before her arrival. Agatha wants you to check out the nightclub she recently appeared at. You only have 30 minutes for this (stated before acceptance) as it's expected the Mystery Magician will try to cover his tracks. There are a few of his goons on the scene when you arrive, but when you retrieve a Clue from a dressing table the Magician himself spawns, a Necromancy/Gravity Control Boss. He calls at least one ambush wave during the fight and runs at 25% health, it seems. He didn't get out, but you're told that he managed to slip away anyway. The Clue is a note giving a time and place for a meeting, perhaps at his hideout.
[/ QUOTE ]
I wish we could use the tp emote several Boss/EB/AV Critters use in Game (Prof Echo, and a couple of the Faultline EB/AVs). That's what I intended for use with the Mystery Magician's defeat. I hope that is something we can use in the future. I guess I should add a defeat clue for now then.
[ QUOTE ]
Act IV is the Fight Scene: you head to the Magician's hideout to take him down. Glinda has escaped and presumably joined him. On arrival you also get tasked to rescue Bowen Alacard again and recover 5 stolen antiques. Both Alacard and the Magician spawned frontloaded, but defeating the Magician just causes him to respawn elsewhere. Defeating him the second time clears the objective, but his defeat Clue says that whoever was inside his clothes turned to smoke and dissipated, so you Never Found The Body. Alacard got wedged in the geometry early on. Agatha turns all the stolen stuff over to the Midnighters' even though no one can figure out why any of it was of any interest in the first place.
[/ QUOTE ]
With the 'Never Found the Body', yea that's intended. When I first created this Arc, I didn't think I'd work a sequel. I've had one feedback looking for one. I still haven't decided to do one or not. I wanted to give that "damn, he got away again" tone.
[ QUOTE ]
The arc suffers from not having any closure. The player never finds out why the antiques were worth stealing, who or what the Mystery Magician really is or why the Circle of Thorns got involved. At least some of these questions really ought to be answered. The mobs are problematic as well. Not only is stealth pretty much a lost cause, there are enough control effects being thrown around to potentially overwhelm a melee's protection. The respawning Boss trick was cute and thankfully not overplayed.
[/ QUOTE ]
I can agree with you that some of the elements should be properly closed.
My intent with the CoT splash was simply a 'Wrong place, Wrong time' kind of thing. In a place like Paragon City, you can't tell me something like that isn't gonna happen? I think I can fix that.
I'll admit to not having a solid background on the Mystery Magician. This Arc came out of somethinig I had seen a long while back and recently seen again. It's more for me getting used to the Architect system than anything else. Given time, I'll think of something to explain the Antiques.
I grant you the overall setup of the Mobs is maybe more Mezz-Centric than it could be, but I was also looking for a different kind of challenge. What is there now is the third or fourth set up of the Minions/Lts. I've thought about adding a fourth Minion type, so that might help ease the one Illusion Minion I have.
As to the respawning Mystery Magician, I was saving that for the end.
All in all, I was looking to see if I could come up with something that has a feel for a regular in-game Arc. I think I'm close to the mark, which is a good thing. It's no where near perfect, but I can live with that.
Again, thnak you for the review.
Thank you for the time...
@Travlr (Main) / @Tymers Realm (Test) 
Love the reviews here. 
I'd like to submit one of mine... ok, maybe two. 
Arc Name: Fallen Angel:Crossing Over
Arc ID: #111352
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
Morality: Villainous
Description: Arachnos is seeking out potential Heroes to convert and join them. Their newest target is an Angel, but not for long.
Arc Name: Girl Scout Cookie Scheme
Arc ID: #52387
Length: Long (3 missions)
Morality: Heroic
Description: Bobby's little sister, Julie, has been acting a little strange since she joined the Scouts this past year. Her behavior is worsening rapidly and Bobby needs your help to find out why.
[ QUOTE ]
Is that where I got that from? I don't even remember that episode....
[/ QUOTE ]
You'll also find it quoted in TVTropes' "Spoof Aesop" section.
'I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King: 'however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.'
'I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked.
'Don't be impertinent,' said the King, 'and don't look at me like that!' He got behind Alice as he spoke.
'A cat may look at a king,' said Alice.
My latest work, for whoever is feeling up to it.
Arc Name: Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friends
Arc ID: 114284
Creator Global: @FredrikSvanberg
Estimated Time to Play: 30-60 minutes (5 missions)
Morality: Villainous
Level Range: 15-20
Winner of Players' Choice Best Villainous Arc 2010: Fear and Loathing on Striga; ID #350522
You'll also find it quoted in TVTropes' "Spoof Aesop" section.
That's actually one of the pages I haven't read...yet....
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 like to present my trilogy of arcs regarding Soviet Earth for review:
Arc Name: Soviet Earth (Part I)
Arc ID: 25630
Author: @Fushicho
Number of Missions: 3
Level Range: 40-54
Description: A 5th Column plot to regain ascendance by using portal technology backfires for everyone. Or does it? WARNING: Most of the custom mobs have willpower as their defense set. If you are a psi user or rely on stealth, you will hate life.
Arc Name: Soviet Earth (Part II)
Arc ID: 1898
Author: @Fushicho
Number of Missions: 2
Level Range: 1-54
Description: Help solidify the alliance between our world and Soviet Earth by helping them eradicate the 5th Column and Council.
Arc Name: Soviet Earth (Part III)
Arc ID: 54547
Author: @Fushicho
Number of Missions: 5
Level Range: 40-54 (except mission 2 being 10-16 due to temporal scaling)
Description: Someone or something is messing with the Soviet Earth time line. Help Ouroboros rectify it. Although it can be played as stand-alone, it assumes you have played the other arcs and makes minor references to them.
Any feedback is welcome!
[ QUOTE ]
However, one thing I *can* recommend to avoid the charge of "just a bunch of things that happen" is to not actually *make* just a bunch of things that happen.
One thing I'm noticing in the arcs I play is that in some cases, it seems pretty obvious that the author essentially wrote a bunch of different missions, with whatever maps they thought would be cool, whatever bosses they thought would be cool, and whatever objectives they thought would be cool. Then they attempted to sprinkle "plot-dust" on them, to try to connect them.
[/ QUOTE ]
When I read this, my first thought was that someone could easily think that is what happened with my second arc, Simple Times. It originally had 4 missions, with 4 different villain groups. Now it has 5 missions, with 4 villain groups. Plus a custom group. So just looking at the description in the MA would not be very promising.
But in reality, I planned the entire story arc, although I did swap a couple of groups for level reasons. And some excellent feedback caused some re-writing to put in the second mission, using one of the groups a second time.
I don't know about being really skilled but the feedback I have received so far has been pretty positive. So the only way to really know if it is JABOSTH is to start it up and play.
Justice Blues, Tech/Tank, Inv/SS
----------------------
Fighting The Future Trilogy
----------------------
Both requests are withdrawn.
40062: The World's Worst PUG
84008: Jenkins's Guide to Super-Villainy
230187: The Hero of Kings Row
No H8 - 08.04.10
@Circuit Boy - Moderator - Pride global chat channel
To Venture: Just wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior. Hedoren's right, and I had no reason to harsh on you for voicing your opinions in any manner you choose.
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Arc #2622: A Tangle in Time
Rating: 1 star
The short of it: Plot issues, claims to be heroic when it's not, custom bosses potentially too powerful
Plot Overview
Azuria tells you that she needs your help to stop the plans of the Circle of Thorns, who apparently are going to wreak havoc on the time stream. The police are already on site, what Azuria needs you to do is to take an amulet and place it on a pedestal to prevent the spell from being cast. You arrive on the scene and the police mostly have it under control, thanks to Officer Riley, a mutant with plant powers, and Sergeant Hanson, a master of baton fighting. You place the amulet on the altar and defeat Moboseia, the leader of the sect of Circle of Thorns. After you exit the cave and return to Azuria, it becomes apparent that you're in a time loop. Azuria hands you another amulet and tells you to go and place it on the altar. When you tell her that you already did it, Azuria calls you crazy, despite the fact that time travel happens on a daily basis and interdimensional invaders are constantly trying to destroy the city. Upon returning you ask Riley and Hanson about it, and they call you crazy as well. When you interrogate Moboseia he explains that he is the only one who can reverse the effect, and he'll only do it for you if you kill all the police who are invading his home. Well, sounds like a perfectly good idea to me! I mean, why should your 35+ hero bother with forcing him to help me through violence or to even try and discover an alternate method of solving this? Ouroboros, Portal Corporation, or the Midnight Club all obviously have better things to do. Mass murdering the police is obviously the best solution.
So, one crazy killfest later (oh but it's okay, they have medical teleporters) Moboseia undoes the spell. Azuria obviously yells at you for it, saying that you're going to spend a decade in the Zig, (They really need to do something about sentencing in Paragon, apparently) but suddenly now believes you when you show her that you have 3 amulets. She says that you need to get Moboseia to redo the spell by beating the crap out of him, and then destroy the pedestal, which is what I should have done from the start. Now you travel to an Oranbegan ruin, inside of which you find a man dressed in rags who babbles insanely about how you've failed 213 times. (Really? He's just a death mage. I've killed hundreds of them, maybe even thousands. I lost count after the first twenty) You beat down Moboseia, who has some obligatory villain dialogue about how you'll be sorry, after which you go back to Azuria, who is now asking you to place the amulet on the altar again. You cut her off saying that you're just going to smash the thing, to which she freaks out, saying that you can't destroy it because it's an artifact in pristine condition and is incredibly valuable and belongs in the MAGI vault. At this point I begin contemplating killing her. I mean, time's just going to reset itself. No one would ever know. In any case, you go inside to destroy the pedestal. Moboseia confronts you at the entrance, and is promptly defeated. Further inside are Riley and Hanson, both wearing rags and with long beards and hair. Apparently if they kill me, Moboseia will undo their time loops, but they haven't been able to do it yet after the apparent hundreds of times they've fought me. So let me get this straight. I've fought them countless times, won every time, but apparently each of those times I don't destroy the pedestal? Riiiiiight. In any case, apparently the multiple times I have fought them have made them stronger. Doesn't really matter, because you still defeat them and destroy the altar. Upon your return with the two police officers, Azuria realizes that destroying the altar was the best option, and that her love for shiny objects got in the way of doing what was right. With everything wrapped up and a-ok, your hero probably descends into alcohol and depression over the fact that he/she willingly murdered a few dozen police, and nobody will ever know.
Mechanics
The maps are small, and the arc is a quick one. Even the Oranbega map is pleasantly straightforward and short. The only thing I have to say is that the two custom police officers in the last mission are likely too powerful for an arc that is being sold as a solo-oriented arc. Riley has extreme plant control, and Hanson has extreme mace, meaning he has build up. Mace is also pretty powerful in the hands of NPCs in the first place. My level 50 scrapper had no problem with Riley, though he is SR, meaning that pretty much everything that plant control uses is rendered useless by my defensive powers. Thankfully, Hanson used build up as I was approaching him, and thanks to stealth and the stealth IO in CJ, he didn't notice me right away, even with his enhanced perception from being SR himself. However, other characters are likely to have much more problems than mine did.
Story
Where do I begin? I guess a good place was my character murdering the police. I'm not even talking "rough them up a bit", I'm saying that it was expressly stated in the arc that I was dealing lethal blows to them, and the only reason why they did not die is because of the medical teleporter. That's a couple dozen counts of attempted murder right there, which is easily consecutive life sentences or a death penalty. My hero, and I assume most peoples, would never even think of that as a viable option, especially when so many others exist. Even though Azuria's apparently too retarded to even check out my time loop story, a hero of at least 35+ easily has an extensive enough network of contacts and people who owe them favors to get themselves looked at, both by scientists who know a thing or two about time travel and by magicians who could check out your character to see if any enchantments or curses had been placed on them. Working with a known criminal to murder police is not even close to the top of the list for options to be taken to fix the problem.
I touched on this in the last review as well, Azuria's not stupid. Sure, MAGI has a bad rap for keeping artifacts secure, but that has nothing to do with Azuria. The MAGI vault is in Galaxy City. If anyone's letting criminals into the vault on a regular basis, it's Gregor Richardson. Judging by his attitude, I wouldn't be surprised if he was on the take. Azuria is one of the best mystics in the world according to the Lost Cure arc, so it should take her no time flat to check to see if you've been cursed to be in a time loop. Upon finding out, she would know (since she does later in the arc) that destroying the altar is the best option at this point.
There's also a huge problem with the time loops and the notion that I've done things about 200 times. First, I have no memory of it, and it just plain doesn't make sense. I know time travel gets kind of confusing, but the only thing that confused me is the fact that apparently I had fought the two police multiple times, and this time is the only one where I actually destroyed the altar and broke the spell.
Final Thoughts
A story about a time loop isn't a bad thing, it's just that this one has too many plot holes and huge idiot moments.
I would like to submit my newly created arc for review. At this time no one has reviewed it, just published it yesterday, so any feedback is appreciated and welcome.
Arc Name: A Grave Undertaking
Arc ID: 120464
Author: @Micro-Burst
Number of Missions: 4
Level Range: 1-54
Morality: Heroic
Description: Caroline Chan is an aspiring reporter investigating a the disappearance of corpses from Paragon City cemeteries.
[ QUOTE ]
Arc #2622: A Tangle in Time
Rating: 1 star
The short of it: Plot issues, claims to be heroic when it's not, custom bosses potentially too powerful
Story
Where do I begin? I guess a good place was my character murdering the police. I'm not even talking "rough them up a bit", I'm saying that it was expressly stated in the arc that I was dealing lethal blows to them, and the only reason why they did not die is because of the medical teleporter. That's a couple dozen counts of attempted murder right there, which is easily consecutive life sentences or a death penalty. My hero, and I assume most peoples, would never even think of that as a viable option, especially when so many others exist. Even though Azuria's apparently too retarded to even check out my time loop story, a hero of at least 35+ easily has an extensive enough network of contacts and people who owe them favors to get themselves looked at, both by scientists who know a thing or two about time travel and by magicians who could check out your character to see if any enchantments or curses had been placed on them. Working with a known criminal to murder police is not even close to the top of the list for options to be taken to fix the problem.
I touched on this in the last review as well, Azuria's not stupid. Sure, MAGI has a bad rap for keeping artifacts secure, but that has nothing to do with Azuria. The MAGI vault is in Galaxy City. If anyone's letting criminals into the vault on a regular basis, it's Gregor Richardson. Judging by his attitude, I wouldn't be surprised if he was on the take. Azuria is one of the best mystics in the world according to the Lost Cure arc, so it should take her no time flat to check to see if you've been cursed to be in a time loop. Upon finding out, she would know (since she does later in the arc) that destroying the altar is the best option at this point.
[/ QUOTE ]
I don't know where you got the idea that your character was willingly ending the lives of the Paragon Police. I stated that part of their rationale for hurting the PPD was the medical teleporters saving them anyway.
As for Azuria, I never before had a complaint about her acting out of character, so I figured I was going the right direction. I could do an overhaul, but between the notion that AE content is non-canon in the first place, and the commonly accepted idea of Azuria being a forgetful ditz, I'm having second thoughts.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback. Sorry to hear it wasn't to your liking.
vvvv Consider it considered. New tag: [WARNING: THIS ARC CONTAINS FIGHTING]
Sounds like there was a question of "Do I really have no other options?"
And even with the medical teleporters, some characters would be completely unwilling to lay the smackdown on Paragon's finest. Or on anyone else, for that matter. There are non-violent heroes out there.
Rise of the Copper Legion (#60280; with soundtrack)
The Fractured Dreamer (#498588; with musical theme)
"Now Leaving: Paragon City": original composition for the end of CoH
[ QUOTE ]
I don't know where you got the idea that your character was willingly ending the lives of the Paragon Police. I stated that part of their rationale for hurting the PPD was the medical teleporters saving them anyway.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, the medical teleporters would save them, but like theHedoren said, it's a case of being the last option that practically anyone would think of taking.
As for Azuria, I'm well aware of the reputation she has. My comments stem mainly from the fact that I did two arcs in a row where Azuria is the contact.
[ QUOTE ]
I don't know where you got the idea that your character was willingly ending the lives of the Paragon Police. I stated that part of their rationale for hurting the PPD was the medical teleporters saving them anyway.
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Consider it considered. New tag: [WARNING: THIS ARC CONTAINS FIGHTING]
[/ QUOTE ]
I couldn't do it.
I thought it sounded interesting, so I wanted to try it despite the reported problems, but the fight against the police didn't work for me. Moral dilemmas are good, but this was just railroading. If there can't be another way to win, there should be a way to lose.
As for the mechanics of it, the police attacking with no provocation didn't make sense. I would look for a way to trigger them, or at least have some dialogue to explain it. The lack of clues (at least up to the point where I quit) was also very noticeable.
'I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King: 'however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.'
'I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked.
'Don't be impertinent,' said the King, 'and don't look at me like that!' He got behind Alice as he spoke.
'A cat may look at a king,' said Alice.
Arc #4384: The Double-Edged Sword
Rating: 5 stars
The short of it: Well written, nice plot twist.
Plot Overview
Mynx has learned about a shady shipment that Crey is bringing in for their Biotech division, and she and you both know that it's most likely sinister. First up, you need to know when and where the shipment is arriving. You hit up a Crey office which is heavily guarded by Crey security and find the shipping manifest on a computer. Obviously, the next step is to get on that boat and to find out exactly what they're bringing in. Most of the cargo is innocuous, except for a kid who's being held against his will. It's uncertain why Crey has this kid, as after you rescue him he explains to you that he just does bird calls. Upon your return, Mynx makes sure the kid is in protective custody, and tells you that it's been discovered that more children are being held at a Crey Biotech facility hidden in Brickstown. You head off to rescue the children and find out exactly what is going on. All of the children turn out to be mutants who exhibited small amounts of power who were kidnapped by Crey and have had their powers artificially magnified. Among the children are a girl who has been transformed into a half human, half cat, a boy who has control over the earth, a girl who has control over fire and pixie wings sprouting from her back, a boy who can communicate and transform into animals, and most importantly, a girl named Josephine Revenoir, who possesses strong psychic powers, but is usually in a state of deep sleep.
After the successful rescue of the children, Mynx says that she's concerned about Josephine. Josephine seemed distant, and hasn't been seen since shortly after her rescue. Mynx asks you to check to see if she's alright. Upon entering the building where Josephine should be, you see that the place is crawling with Carnies. After finding no sign of Josephine and interrogating the leader, you discover that the Carnies are searching for her because Josephine has become a limitless source of psychic power. On your return, Mynx tells you that there is a crisis situation. Josephine's powers are to drain people of their psychic energy to power her telepathic abilities, and that she's currently mind controlling an army of Carnies and wreaking havoc on the city, draining everyone of their psychic energy. Other heroes are already on the scene, but they're going to need your help. The scene is total chaos. Positron and Sister Psyche are there on the scene, willing to help you defeat Josephine and her army. After you subdue the mentally unstable Josephine, an army of Longbow arrive to help secure the area.
Mynx explains that Crey's files on the children have been found, and that Josephine barely had any telekinetic power before the experiments turned her into a living weapon. Josephine's powers are only active when she is awake, so until a cure is found for her, she'll have to remain completely sedated for the rest of her life.
Mechanics
All of the indoor maps are random, but seem to be all small size. This isn't a problem, however, as none of them have any kind of conditional spawns or try to do anything fancy with the placement of spawns. The first two maps follow the same general formula, quite a few unnecessary glowies, and one objective that is different that is the real one, in the first mission it's a computer, and in the second mission it's a rescue captive. The third mission takes place in a lab, with 3 rescue captives and 2 allies, who are both LTs, one stone melee/earth control, one who I think is fire blast/fire melee, though she could be fiery assault/something. The fourth mission is very straightforward, defeat a boss, which is a Master Illusionist.
The fifth mission is the outdoor carnie festival that takes place in the middle of the city. The first time I went through, Josephine spawned in the circus area, though the second time in she spawned right in the front. I don't know if her spawn is set to any, or if it's set to back and it's just the MA being retarded, but if this can be fixed it should. There are two optional allies to take, Positron and Sister Psyche, both the special boss pet versions. The whole map is pretty chaotic, with carnies fighting each other, and it helps to add to the feel of the mission. Josephine herself is an AV class enemy, with what appears to be standard or hard mind control and extreme psionic assault. This could be a problem for squishier characters, but anyone with status protection shouldn't have trouble if they rescue Sister Psyche and Positron. One big problem with the mission though, it's not stated before you take the mission that you only have an hour to do it. That should be fixed.
Story
I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this story. Mynx doesn't seem out of character, and the Carnival of Shadows was a nice twist. The ending tugged at my heart a little bit as well. I wouldn't change a damn thing as far as the story is concerned.
Final Thoughts
A couple things need some tweaking, but they're easy to fix and besides the unannounced time mission really minor complaints. I definitely recommend giving this one a play.
Thanks for you review! I thought I'd point out real quick that the Arc ID is [u]4384[u], not 4634. At least, according to my notes....
My understanding (and I could be wrong) is that Boss spawn points in outdoor maps are uncontrollable because outdoor maps don't have a Front-Middle-Back arrangement. But it would be nice to keep Josephine in a single location.
It would also be a handy way to keep track of the optional Allies in the final mission. On any given test run, I can only ever find two of them, but there are three lurking around. 
I completely forgot to have Mynx mention the timed mish, and I understand how frustrating that can be. I'll certainly change it next time I pass through the MA.
Thank you for your time. When it comes to my arcs, I can be slightly neurotic about fine-tuning and details, so it's extremely handy to have someone else catch my mistakes for a change.
And the positive feedback doesn't hurt, either. 
Rise of the Copper Legion (#60280; with soundtrack)
The Fractured Dreamer (#498588; with musical theme)
"Now Leaving: Paragon City": original composition for the end of CoH
Well she does mention it, but not until after you accept the mission. And I figured the spawn point was probably out of your control, I frankly haven't even messed around with outdoor maps.
Sorry about the Arc ID foul-up. I don't even know how I managed that one. I looked in my queue and it even says 4384 there as well.
No problem. With any list of random numbers, it's bound to happen eventually. On the silver-lining side, it still showed up as 4-something-something-4.
And I was mostly focused on the rest of the review anyway.
Rise of the Copper Legion (#60280; with soundtrack)
The Fractured Dreamer (#498588; with musical theme)
"Now Leaving: Paragon City": original composition for the end of CoH
[ QUOTE ]
When I read this, my first thought was that someone could easily think that is what happened with my second arc, Simple Times. It originally had 4 missions, with 4 different villain groups. Now it has 5 missions, with 4 villain groups. Plus a custom group. So just looking at the description in the MA would not be very promising.
But in reality, I planned the entire story arc, although I did swap a couple of groups for level reasons. And some excellent feedback caused some re-writing to put in the second mission, using one of the groups a second time.
I don't know about being really skilled but the feedback I have received so far has been pretty positive. So the only way to really know if it is JABOSTH is to start it up and play.
[/ QUOTE ]
JABOSTH doesn't imply lack of planning or even foresight. It actually (in my opinion) represents a lack of priority in having the missions be primarily about a singular line of thought. The number of groups used isn't a strong forward indicator in my opinion, although it tends to be a stronger reverse correlator (not all arcs with many villain groups turn out to be JABOSTH but a lot of JABOSTH end up having a lot of different groups or massive use of customs).
I haven't played the arc being referenced, so I have no opinion about that specifically.
[Guide to Defense] [Scrapper Secondaries Comparison] [Archetype Popularity Analysis]
In one little corner of the universe, there's nothing more irritating than a misfile...
(Please support the best webcomic about a cosmic universal realignment by impaired angelic interference resulting in identity crisis angst. Or I release the pigmy water thieves.)
For your review, gentlefolk, heres my first arc:
Arc ID# 55715
"Freaks and Geeks"
by: @El Condor
Morality: Heroic
Length: 3 Missions
Level Recommended: 30+
Enemy Groups: Freakshow, Crey, custom (Crey GenEx)
"Paragon Citys active geek community has done much to contribute to its status as a cutting-edge, techno-infused metropolis. Now its time to pay it back and save the geeks in their greatest hour of need!"
I purposely refrained from submitting here for a couple of weeks in order to gather a decent helping of feedback, make tweaks, and acquire some street cred in general. Call it my working-it-out-in-Boston-before-bringing-it-to-New York phase.
Its very much a first arc, and I really focused more on keeping the story cohesive and the writing interesting rather than trying to get too big. I appreciate all honest review you generous peeps are able to give. Have at it!
EC
So I guess my arc which was on a 8 Arc ID list wont be runned? If anyone does decide to do it...should I post it in another Topic? I say this because there is no running my "TF" solo...unless you at least have a 4 man team, team wipe central. Really 5+ Recommended...
Arc Name: V'kta A'cha Vox'm
Arc ID: 36984
Creator Global: @escher
Estimated Time to Play: 45-70 minutes (5 missions) It will take longer on a larger team / difficulty setting.
Morality: neutral
Level Range: 44-50
Might as well throw myself out here - I'm in need of some well thought out criticism of this before I attempt to do another one. I don't want to give any spoilers away with my description, but I will at least let you know in advance that there are no defeat alls, two escorts, and the main enemy groups are Rikti, Crey, and... well, you'll just have to play it now.
"I swear you could fling a man hole cover across the street and hit more notes than 90% of those idiots on American Idol" -Desmodos
"Every time you post I feel like I been hit with a fist full of smart! Thanks." - Volken re: Sucker Punch
Arc #36984 V'kta A'cha Vox'm
Arc #70210: Is it Live or is it Memory-X?
Rating: 3 stars
The short of it: Decent plot with a few issues, annoying custom enemies, problems with mission design
Plot Overview
The 5th Column are robbing a bank, and Citadel has asked you to stop them. You arrive on the scene and dispatch the soldiers, who are being led by a Wolfpack Mk II robot. One of the guards drops an encrypted 10 GB flash drive. (Yes, it's that specific) Citadel is unable to fully decrypt it, but from what he was able to extract from it, he is able to discern that the 5th Column are attempting to build a new highly advanced AI system called Memory-X, and the flash drive contains the schematics for it. Your next goal is to go to a Crey computer research lab, where an experimental AI is being developed. The 5th Column are going to strike there next, and it is your mission to destroy the AI before they can steal it, and obtain a copy of some decryption firmware that is being developed at the lab. After fighting through both Crey and 5th Column forces, you manage to find the firmware and destroy the mainframe. Upon decrypting the flash drive fully, Citadel discovers that apparently the 5th Column has already built Memory-X but lost it, and is now trying to build another one to find and correct the problems with the first one.
With scans made by Positron, Citadel is able to direct you towards an abandoned lab which may contain clues to Memory-X. When you arrive, you find that the lab is not abandoned, and in fact is crawling with 5th Column forces. You're able to find the data that you came for, and surprisingly, you find Citadel being held captive by robots within the base. Citadel claims that he hasn't sent you on any of your previous missions. As it turns out, the previous Citadel was a fake. Memory-X had kidnapped Citadel and replaced him with a replica version as part of its plan. The real Citadel is able to discern from the data you collected that Memory-X's purpose was to create replicas of all of the world leaders to bring the world under complete 5th Column control. However, the AI has rebelled against its masters and is now working towards its own ends. After scanning for the energy signatures of the battle droids that you encountered in the lab, Citadel pinpoints some of the robots at a new Portal Corp. Facility, and asks you to check it out while he consults with Statesman. He gives you a bio-scanner designed to pick up life-signs so you can find if there are any hostages inside. When inside, you find the President of the United States and Statesman captured by the robots. The robots are preparing to teleport them to a facility where they will be replicated, and upon learning of your intrusion attempt to destroy the mainframe which houses the co-ordinates. You successfully prevent that from happening, and rescue the hostages. However, it turns out (not surprisingly) that Statesman is a replica.
Memory-X's base is located underground on the moon, and Portal Corp. is capable of teleporting you there. Citadel says that he has found a reliable way of determining who is real and who is a replica, and the Freedom Phalanx will sort out the world leaders who have been kidnapped and not with the help of the United Nations while you go to the moon base. On the moon base, you rescue the hostages that Memory-X has held there, including Back Alley Brawler. With his help, you destroy the mainframes that house Memory-X, and the Master Builder droid that he downloaded himself to, ending its threat. Upon your return to Earth, Citadel informs you that the Freedom Phalanx was able to find the world leader replicas and destroy them, and thanks you for saving the world.
Mechanics
The first mission is on a 15 minute timer, and the contact doesn't tell you that until after you accept the mission. Bad move, made even worse by the really short timer. The specific amount of time isn't a big issue, as it's a really small CoV heist map. However, how small the map is an issue, as the final boss runs at low life, and if you don't have knockback resistance, the amount of KB that higher level 5th Column have will ensure that he escapes. The mission is a defeat all, but that's not a huge deal considering how small the map is.
In the next mission, you have Crey and 5th Column facing off, and it looks like the 5th Column are the main enemy with Crey on Rogue. However, it looks like the author made a couple mistakes with the details, because I would often see groups of Crey killing each other. There are too many fake computers in addition to the real one. Finding the right glowie in this mission is a major pain. The map is also the Crey cloning lab, which doesn't make sense considering the story. The lab is supposed to be developing software, not bio-engineering humans.
The third mission takes place on an abandoned tech map, and you have to find 4 computers in a sea of fake ones. It's not as bad as the first mission, but still annoying. Citadel spawns after you find the 4 correct ones, and he spawns as the AV version instead of the Pet version. I would switch him to the pet one. This map is also a defeat all, but here it's much more of a big deal considering that the map is a larger size. After you rescue Citadel, patrols of 5th column spawn, meaning you have to hunt all of them down in the random areas they pop up at. Considering that this mission is an escort, the defeat all can just be taken out. Even if you stealth the glowies you're going to have to fight things as you haul Citadel back anyhow.
The fourth mission uses a portal corp map, not really any problems with the map itself. Really, the only two problems with this mission that I can think of involve the President. First, he's not set to non-combat, but is a person, meaning that he'll run into fights and begin brawling people. He should be set to non-combat. Also, right after killing his captors, the defend object appears. Based on the clue you get when you return him to the door, it sounds like it should spawn after you haul him to the door.
The 5th mission takes place in one of the Rikti Caves, a pretty big one. I didn't really have a problem with the size, as it was the last mission. In my opinion, your last mission has the freedom to be rather large. However, there are far too many non-essential boss spawns, and the bosses themselves are really annoying. Even if you decide to grab Back Alley Brawler (he's non essential to the mission) he doesn't help much as the bosses are all masterminds who summon 5 robots, meaning BABs will inevitably start beating up a protector bot or something.
The custom group has a few problems. The aforementioned bosses are a bit too much. Bots/Devices, with what appears to be hard/standard. My scrapper had no issues with them, really, but my all-human peacebringer was having major problems. First, they'd immobilize him, and plus the protector bots would just wreak total havoc on him with their forcefields, seeker drones, and stuns. A squishier character is going to have major problems with these guys. The LTs just plain have too many powers. One of them is Forcefield/Energy Blast. The energy blast is definitely on hard, as they have energy torrent, but I'm not sure what the Forcefield is on. Regardless, they have force bolt, dispersion bubble, and aid self. On my peacebringer it was just constant knockback, and I couldn't even hold them to stop it due to the dispersion bubble. The other LTs are Axe/Elec Armor, axe is on hard, not sure of the elec armor. I will tell you however that they were annoying as all hell to kill, even on my scrapper. My peacebringer eventually just skipped all of these whenever he could, because since he only uses energy it was like fighting someone with unstoppable running constantly. Lastly, one of the minions uses Electric Blast/Electric Manipulation. The end drain from these minions was incredibly brutal, thanks to the custom critters using the same power effects that players do, and the fast recharge of charged bolts and electric fence. Even with conserve power on, my Peacebringer's end was floored practically the whole time.
Story
The overall plot is a decent one, but it has issues. First off, in the first two missions Citadel says that he was built by the 5th Column and that they will take control of him if he goes with you. I really hope this is foreshadowing the fact that he is the fake Citadel that was created by Memory-X, because Citadel wasn't created by the 5th Column. Another issue is that the plot, while it makes sense, is pretty hard to follow. After playing through it with 2 separate characters, I had to run through part of it a third time when I sat down to write the plot overview and drew a complete blank as to how the transition between the plot of the first three missions went. After playing it again, it made sense, but barely. Things need to be made clearer. Also, a minor nitpick, but the Flame Protector that spawns claims that he has a powersuit, when Flame Protectors have demon faces under their helmets. After they use a certain power their demon heads are visible. If you really do want him to be someone in a power suit, there is a Paragon Protector Elite that uses fire powers that you could use instead.
Final Thoughts
With some improvements, this arc could be turned into a pretty good one. The plot isn't a bad one, just hard to follow at places. The custom enemy group does need work, however.
Arc Name: Facing Chaos
Arc ID: 105163
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Aracade
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Synopsis: An old king that has seen his world end learns the cause of its destruction is being drawn to this world. Unwilling to see another world fall he calls for the help of the heroes that protect it. (Level 40+)
Estimated Time to Play: 45 to 90 minutes