[ QUOTE ]
(I'll take review requests to ease some workload here. If you post here, please also send me a PM to be sure I get the arc ID number.)
[/ QUOTE ]
Hmm... I'll take my chances and post my arc here.
Fallen Angel: Crossing Over
Arc #111352
Villainous arc made for higher levels. I have been testing it with my 34(31 first time i tested) dark/dark brute.
Be gentle.... or harsh. I don't care. :P
[ QUOTE ]
I suggest taking out the ambush or toning down the boss a bit. A brute can take that heat better than a Corrupter and when your custom mobs can inflict stun/immob/hold yada yada, that starts wandering into the realm of "OMG I can't beat this guy." People who don't have a chance don't vote well.
[/ QUOTE ]
Quoted for truth.
I played it on the lowest difficulty setting, with the EB scaled down to a boss, using a character heavily slotted with IOs. Having the main bad guy shrugging off my strongest hits and healing himself was NOT cool. I burned an entire Inspiration tray and only managed to get him below half health once...at which point an ambush triggered.
Last kung-fu movie I saw, the final battle was one-on-one - not a horde of minions rushing the hero while he's facing off versus the villain. The premise is interesting, but the second mission was absolutely horrible. I rated it two stars.
Thank you for taking the time to play my arc - your commentary and thoughts are very much appreciated.
You identified some good areas for me to tweak - I never realized how annoying the same patrol comments could be until you highlighted it. I also agree that the final ambush is not needed.
I have made the following changes:
- All patrol commentary is really not needed, and has been removed.
- The ambush at the end is in poor form, and has been removed to give a more epic 1-on-1 feel to the last fight
Again, thank you for your time and comments. You (and others) are really helping the game by doing these reviews.
- BS17
Go Team Venture!
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I suggest taking out the ambush or toning down the boss a bit. A brute can take that heat better than a Corrupter and when your custom mobs can inflict stun/immob/hold yada yada, that starts wandering into the realm of "OMG I can't beat this guy." People who don't have a chance don't vote well.
[/ QUOTE ]
Quoted for truth.
I played it on the lowest difficulty setting, with the EB scaled down to a boss, using a character heavily slotted with IOs. Having the main bad guy shrugging off my strongest hits and healing himself was NOT cool. I burned an entire Inspiration tray and only managed to get him below half health once...at which point an ambush triggered.
Last kung-fu movie I saw, the final battle was one-on-one - not a horde of minions rushing the hero while he's facing off versus the villain. The premise is interesting, but the second mission was absolutely horrible. I rated it two stars.
[/ QUOTE ]
Thank you for playing my arc and for providing good feedback for me to use.
I agree that the ambush at the end is in poor form - it has been removed. This should give the final fight a more traditional 1-on-1 feel to it (a la Bruce Lee vs Chuck Norris).
The EB (scaled to a Boss when you played) is a MA / Regen scrapper. The /Regen is set to extreme. If I set it to hard, the EB will lose Integration, Revive and Moment of Glory. If I could, I would remove Revive and MoG from him now. Hopefully the upcoming MA changes will allow me to do just that. I agree that it is frustrating to fight a critter for a long time and make no progress.
Again, thank you for your time and help.
- BS17
Go Team Venture!
I would appreciate a review for my story arc. Thanks.
Arc Name: Saving Grace
Arc ID: 124477
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @spry / swieske
Difficulty Level: 30+
Length: long (4 medium sized maps and 1 large)
Synopsis: Help Thunder Shower and Stormborn locate and rescue Storm's Grace.
[ QUOTE ]
c'est la vie! or as i like to say more often... et mon cul? c'est du poulet?
[/ QUOTE ]
A wee bit off topic but while I do admit that my French is a bit rusty, I'm not sure that means what you think it means :P.
Throwing my first and only arc into the mix for reviews by whomever is doing reviews in this thread.
Arc Name: The Existence of a Gnome
Arc ID: 154205
Length: Very Large
Mission Count: 5
Morality: Heroic
Description: A group of sorceresses have taken up residence on a local island and begun practicing new spells and incantations. Gordon Bower has contacted you in the hopes of retaining your assistance in researching these sorceresses and their spells.
Main Character: Ice/Storm/Ice Controller (Justice, 1340 badges)
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
c'est la vie! or as i like to say more often... et mon cul? c'est du poulet?
[/ QUOTE ]
A wee bit off topic but while I do admit that my French is a bit rusty, I'm not sure that means what you think it means :P.
[/ QUOTE ]
it is an actual french phrase. it translates literally as "and my [censored]? it is a chicken?" it is an expression of doubt... 
global: ridiculous girl
Hero Therapy! (TM) - 119228
welcome to donut world - 1233
Arc Name: Digital Transition
Arc ID: 143017
Length: 3 Missions
Good Stuff: Good original storyline. Appropriate mobs for storyline. Solid final boss (even if the KB irritated me :P).
Bad Stuff: No text warning of level decrease in first mission. Ambushes during "boss" battles.
Character Used: Donnie Danes (Controller: Fire/Kin 50/Guardian)
The use of Computer as a contact was well done. Especially with the Tron reference. The overall use of the Computer trying to resurrect Radio as an ally against the Television, also well done.
Admittedly, my Fire/Kin is tricked out pretty well, so the mobs here were easy - even with the forced level decrease. Throughout the first two missions (Freakshow and Psychic Clockwork), I had little difficulty even against the "bosses."
The last mission was the bigger challenge. I'm not really a fan of timed missions, but this one had a plausible excuse for it and the mission objectives were lined up fairly well, so I didn't dock for that at all. In fact, I applaud it here because it lended a bigger "feel of tension" to the situation that I thought added to the mission.
The Avatar of Television (Illusion/???) was well done as a custom critter, despite the KB abounding. He was just annoying enough to be enjoyable as a boss. Fortunately, there were no ambushes this time for which I was grateful considering I was getting bounced around like a basketball enough as it was.
Overall, I liked the various movie references used throughout and I liked the use of the Radio's "original" contact text from CoV. Well thought out and well played.
Rated: 5 stars
SG Leader "Knights of Tir Asleen"
"I am a humanoid... I get really annoyed at the things humans do."
"Shepherd" ID: 135806 - Heroic Morality Story Arc
Hereby presented for review by whoever so desires...
Arc Name: Kiss Hello Goodbye
Arc ID: 156389
Faction: Heroic (But could easily be run by a villain who can be hired to un-kidnap somebody)
Creator Global/Forum Name: Kitsune9tails
Difficulty Level: Tested with a soloing L25 Inv/Fire Tanker primarily
Synopsis: Kiss your usual inner monologue goodbye! This mission is narrated by the whiskey-and-cigarette kissed voice of Film Noir and hard boiled detective stories. When a beautiful dame with a missing sister rolled into your City, the nights got hot and the action got wild! Can you figure out the mystery before the end? Can you save yourself from a terrible trap? If not, Kiss Hello Goodbye!
Estimated Time to Play: 1 hour (more if you clear all)
This should be soloable by most skilled players if they are careful and pick their battles.
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!
Thanks for the review, Spell_Blade! To address the bad stuff quickly...
[ QUOTE ]
Bad Stuff: No text warning of level decrease in first mission. Ambushes during "boss" battles.
[/ QUOTE ]
The level decrease is something I want to get rid of...I just need to change the Lieutenant to something that has a level 50 version. I may just turn him into a noncombatant and use the Civilian model, having him go back to base to check on those reinforcements.
As far as the ambushes...as you stated, the fights were pretty easy in the missions that had the ambushes. I purposefully set the ambush to 'easy', so it's a bit of an added challenge without being overpowering. It's quite possible to defeat the boss before the ambush even gets to you, and that gives you the Mission Completed button to exit. Plus, each of the first two missions has an optional Ally to help you with the fight.
Thanks for the comments on the final boss. Another reviewer had a problem with multiple bosses showing up, so I'll be taking a second look at it.
[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the review, Spell_Blade! To address the bad stuff quickly...
[ QUOTE ]
Bad Stuff: No text warning of level decrease in first mission. Ambushes during "boss" battles.
[/ QUOTE ]
The level decrease is something I want to get rid of...I just need to change the Lieutenant to something that has a level 50 version. I may just turn him into a noncombatant and use the Civilian model, having him go back to base to check on those reinforcements.
As far as the ambushes...as you stated, the fights were pretty easy in the missions that had the ambushes. I purposefully set the ambush to 'easy', so it's a bit of an added challenge without being overpowering. It's quite possible to defeat the boss before the ambush even gets to you, and that gives you the Mission Completed button to exit. Plus, each of the first two missions has an optional Ally to help you with the fight.
Thanks for the comments on the final boss. Another reviewer had a problem with multiple bosses showing up, so I'll be taking a second look at it.
[/ QUOTE ]
Admittedly, those fights were easy and for that I applaud you on not making a situation potentially impossible for someone "support" based (thinking Corruptors and Defenders here).
Really, it was just a minor gripe which was why your arc still got five stars.
*** Spell Blade's Current Queue: 111352, 124477, 154205, 156389 ***
SG Leader "Knights of Tir Asleen"
"I am a humanoid... I get really annoyed at the things humans do."
"Shepherd" ID: 135806 - Heroic Morality Story Arc
Arc #40686: Go Go Chromatic Rangers!
Rating: 3 stars
The Short of it: Interesting idea but seems too light on the humor, custom enemies potentially annoying.
Plot Overview
Arachnos has had problems with a group of teenagers who has been attacking their bases. Even the most elite teams of operatives have fallen to them, and Arbiter Daos is coming to you for help. He sends you to a base in Grandville that is under attack by these plucky kids, where they are easily defeating the soldiers. During your confrontation with their leader, he comments that it is impossible for a villain to be this powerful this early in the story.
Arbiter Daos informs you that Arachnos scientists have discovered that these Chromatic Rangers as they're called have a bizarre "Genre Distortion Field" that makes it so that good always wins out in the end. Somehow you seem not to be affected by it, so he hatches a plan to try and stop them. He theorizes that the kids have some sort of leader co-ordinating their attacks, and wants you to kidnap one of the rangers for interrogation. Another Arachnos base is currently under attack, and you go there to retrieve one of the kids. Inside, you find that the kids have somehow talked the Arachnos inside to give up their life of crime and instead turn to the side of good. You manage to kidnap one of the rangers and bring her back to Daos, who will personally oversee the interrogation as he theorizes that he is "important" enough to be immune to the effects of the genre distortion field.
Daos returns to you with a strange tale. The girl folded immediately, being unused to villains that are even slightly competent. She told him that they take their orders from a computer called MENTOR in the basement of a library. Then, the Chromatic Rangers burst in to rescue their comrade, and Arbiter Daos went through a secret tunnel that should not have existed after giving an uncharacteristic villainous speech. Besides all of this, Daos has a plan. He wants you to go to the library and destroy the original MENTOR computer and replace it with an Arachnos holograph generator to be able to control the rangers and use them for Arachnos' ends. You go to the library and destroy the sentient computer, and plant the hologram device.
On your return to Daos, he explains that all hell has broken loose. The Chromatic Rangers have combined their powers to summon the MegaChromaMech, which is currently slicing Arachnos Fliers in half with its sword outside of Ghost Widow's tower. You're the only one able to stop it due to your immunity to the genre distortion effect, so Daos sends you to destroy the robot. Upon defeating the MegaChromaMech, you end the threat of the rangers.
Mechanics
All of the maps are pretty short. First two are Arachnos bases, the first one with a defeat boss objective, the second with an escort. The third map is the invention tutorial map with a destroy object and a collect object, and the last map is the Arachnos Flier map with only a defeat boss on it.
As for the custom group, which is the main enemy group on all maps, the difficulty is mostly well balanced. This is pretty much due to the last patch, but all the LTs and above have build up/aim type powers. On LTs, aim isn't much of a deal. The increase in damage isn't spectacular at that rank, and it pretty just means that people who primarily use defense to stay alive have 10 seconds of being hit pretty easily. Thankfully the AI on Dark Melee is stupid, and treats soul drain like build up or aim, and not an attack, meaning that they'll use soul drain as soon as they see you, whether you're in melee range or not. There is alot of psychic attacks and mezzing on the minions, however. This could be a big problem for some players. As for the bosses, I assume that the Chromatic Red was the only one, and he's hard energy melee. Since energy melee has total focus on standard for bosses now, I would turn him down to hard. Build up and total focus is fun for no one (well, some people I guess, if they think they need stuff like that to be challenged). Same goes for the MegaChromaMech. Standard has both soaring dragon and golden dragonfly, so build up could be going overboard, especially on an AV class enemy.
Story
Writing humor is always incredibly hit or miss. However, I'm rather easy to please when it comes to humor style. I appreciate the metahumor this arc is based around. The main character is immune to the Rangers' effects due to the fact that the player is self aware of the fact that he's a supervillain, and not one of the Rangers' usual foes. Unfortunately, while it has a great foundation, I feel that the humor falls a little flat. Not enough punch to the punchline, as it were. I never really laughed while playing the arc, instead I had a general sense of amusement. General sense of amusement is still good, which is why this is a 3 instead of a 2, but I personally feel more could be done to punch up the comedy. Unfortunately, that's not something where I can easily point out the issues and what needs to be fixed, since humor's highly subjective.
Final Thoughts
The enemies have a potential to be too difficult for some people, which I realize is partly due to the most recent patch, and for the most part is a really easy fix, but anyone with status protection shouldn't have too many problems, as long as you're wary of the bosses and the AV at the end. While not uproariously funny, it's still amusing enough if you like meta-humor.
Arc #77277: Alliance: Alien
Rating: 1 star
The short of it: Nonsensical plot, it's not my job to test your arc for you, ridiculous boss spawn
Plot Overview
This is usually the part where I do a summary of the plot. I can't even imagine trying to summarize the plot of this arc, as I'm not even sure what the plot is. Am I trying to foil a Nemesis plot with help from the Tsoo? Am I trying to rescue a Warshade from the Rikti? Am I trying to save the world from a Rikti/Nictus team up? Or is it something else altogether? What exactly is happening in this arc is an utter and total mystery.
Mechanics
The first mission takes place in an office, with your main enemies being Nemesis. There are two captives to save, both of them Tsoo tattoo artists, and a defend object that is guarded by a custom group with nothing but Council Galaxies, both regular and quantum gunner varieties. There's also an optional boss that's a Nemesis Comet sniper.
Mission two takes place in a Rikti base, with a boss to defeat and a glowie to collect. Inside there are a few non essential PPD awakened and a Guardian Drone set to single.
Mission 3 is another Rikti base that has two glowies, a boss battle, and again some non essential allies set to single. This is one of the cases where I'm led to believe that the author didn't test at all. All of the allies have ambushes associated with them. Here's the thing, when an ally is set to single, it automatically completes when you walk into the mission. This means that as soon as you enter the mission, you've got 3 ambushes of rikti charging at you. People with long load times will likely enter the mission dead. The boss fight for this mission is truly ridiculous, as it has a Rikti boss surrounded by nothing but Dark Novas and Dark Dwarves. And it's not set on easy, either. I'm talking like 5 of the things. It doesn't even matter if you take the allies with you, as anyone who's played a kheldian, or done the ITF with someone who does energy or negative energy damage, will tell you that these guys resist the hell out of those damage types. The PPD Kheldian allies won't do anything but die in this boss fight.
Mission 4 takes place inside of a council base, and the main enemy is the custom council group that is all galaxies. It has a bunch of objectives, 2 bosses, one of which is a chief soldier, the other a custom EB that appears to be hard dark blast and standard dark armor. It has a destroy object, and two glowies. It also has a few rikti patrols and another non-essential ally, another guardian drone that is set to single. One of the glowies also spawns a rikti ambush on you.
Story
Where to even start? The first mission has your PPD Hardsuit contact telling you to go stop a Nemesis attack on an office, warning you that other villain groups are inside. The other villain group are Council Galaxies, who are after the desk of a man who is a warshade. The Nemesis are apparently after some "Nemesis Defectors", who are Tsoo tattoo artists, apparently? The Tsoo claim to have information on a Nemesis plot of some kind. The Nemesis leader says something about you being there right on time, insinuating that this was some sort of trick.
Remember that last paragraph? Forget all about it. The entire Nemesis angle is completely dropped for the rest of the arc. Absolutely no mention of Nemesis. The only important thing is supposedly the Warshade that the Council were after, who apparently is a Galaxy Archon who was granted full Nictus powers, but then defected and became a hero. Well, he's been kidnapped by Rikti. However, the base he's supposed to be at doesn't have him. Apparently he's been teleported to another base, and you have to go there to rescue him.
Remember that last paragraph? Forget that one too. You never rescue the Warshade. The plot from here on out becomes about a team up between the Nictus and Rikti to conquer the earth.
Oh, and another thing that leads me to believe that this arc was never tested by the author, is that all of the Rikti bosses have <br> tags in their speech. One would think that upon going into a mission and seeing that your NPCs say <br> instead of having an actual line break, that you'd go and fix it. Either the author thought it was no big deal or never even walked into one of his own missions.
Final Thoughts
Seriously, the entire thing feels like a stream of consciousness writing excercise gone wrong. I'd love to say that it accidentally got published, but the fact remains that it got submitted for review.
what you guys need to do is put up a "best of the best of the best of the best" list... so i do not have to wade through 70 pages to find your 5 star arcs...
i am lazy, i want you to do it for me... 
global: ridiculous girl
Hero Therapy! (TM) - 119228
welcome to donut world - 1233
[ QUOTE ]
what you guys need to do is put up a "best of the best of the best of the best" list... so i do not have to wade through 70 pages to find your 5 star arcs...
i am lazy, i want you to do it for me...
[/ QUOTE ]
That's not a good way to go about it. 5 stars just means one particular reviewer liked it best - for example, "Hearts on Fire" got 1 star from Venture, and 5 stars from Talen_Lee. It doesn't mean one of them is wrong, it's just that if your tastes are closer to Venture's, you might not like it, while if your tastes are closer to Talen's, you might like it. You should read through the reviews and see if they mention things that you like or dislike.
If you're *really* lazy, start your own "give me some arcs to play" thread, saying what kind of arc you like (story, humor, challenge, etc.) and wait for the authors to tell you about the stuff they made themselves.
Character index
[ QUOTE ]
it is an actual french phrase. it translates literally as "and my [censored]? it is a chicken?" it is an expression of doubt...
[/ QUOTE ]
Just checking, I was hoping you were one of those people who say random french phrases to make themselves look cool but alas 
.
[ QUOTE ]
That's not a good way to go about it. 5 stars just means one particular reviewer liked it best - for example, "Hearts on Fire" got 1 star from Venture, and 5 stars from Talen_Lee. It doesn't mean one of them is wrong, it's just that if your tastes are closer to Venture's, you might not like it, while if your tastes are closer to Talen's, you might like it. You should read through the reviews and see if they mention things that you like or dislike.
If you're *really* lazy, start your own "give me some arcs to play" thread, saying what kind of arc you like (story, humor, challenge, etc.) and wait for the authors to tell you about the stuff they made themselves.
[/ QUOTE ]
i already have a review thread... though i have gotten a few that i have enjoyed immensely, you have to wade through a lot of mediocre ones... wheat/chaff kind of thing. lots and lots of chaff... saving myself time here. thnere has to be some overlap in 5 star arcs. sort of a siskel and ebert thing... but a vehnture and laserjesus and talen_lee six thumbs up kind of thing...
global: ridiculous girl
Hero Therapy! (TM) - 119228
welcome to donut world - 1233
[ QUOTE ]
Just checking, I was hoping you were one of those people who say random french phrases to make themselves look cool but alas .
[/ QUOTE ]
i live in france, so i make it a mission to learn random french phrases that i might find useful... i love shouting "appuis sur le champignon” while driving!
i don't need to do that to look cool... i am already cool.
global: ridiculous girl
Hero Therapy! (TM) - 119228
welcome to donut world - 1233
[ QUOTE ]
The Nemesis are apparently after some "Nemesis Defectors", who are Tsoo tattoo artists, apparently? The Tsoo claim to have information on a Nemesis plot of some kind. The Nemesis leader says something about you being there right on time, insinuating that this was some sort of trick.
[/ QUOTE ]
Minor point of order, Laser-
The Tsoo Tattoo artists are a glitch; if you set it to 'random civilian', you'll get Tsoo Tattoo Artists (for the first two- the third will be an actress of some sort, don't remember her name, then two more Tsoo Tattoo Artists, then... a weatherman, or something? Don't remember exactly).
About the rest of it, I've got nothin' 
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
[ QUOTE ]
I assume that the Chromatic Red was the only one, and he's hard energy melee. Since energy melee has total focus on standard for bosses now, I would turn him down to hard.
[/ QUOTE ]
*Scratches head*
Er, what?
I have only had a chance to re-playtest the maps with my scrapper since the change. Giving build-up to a lot of builds early sure does make it hard to balance. It's impossible to pull build-up off of an AV/Boss without pulling them all the way down to standard, which would gimp them pretty badly. I think the devs way overdid it with buildup/aim in this patch.
FWIW, only one of the mobs has any mezzing attacks, one of the minions has Grav Control on standard (lift, crush, maybe Grav dist now with the patch). I was hoping this would put it on par with stuff like Freakshow mezzes.
I like to think my my arc isn't short, it just feels that way when you're playing it.
Thanks for the review and comments. I really appreciate the feedback.
I want to point out that bosses have a lot more attacks now than they used to. Energy Melee for instance has Total Focus on standard, like I said, so I'm not exactly sure if turning them down to standard will gimp them. Energy Melee still hits pretty hard even without build up, and don't even get me started on stone melee for bosses.
Also, I meant to say I would turn him down to standard in my review, just for the record.
Ah, that makes a lot more sense. The old standard EM bosses were pretty lame (like the first three Single Targets and the PBAoE), but if it's that plus build-up that might be reasonable.
The only Psi slingers are a couple of the minions too, which wasn't too bad on my warshade (note for people who have not played Warshades: despite them using copies of a lot of Dark Armor powers, they don't have any Psi DEF or RES at all), but that was solo. On a large team it might be harder to survive. I do need to rerun the test with the new patch.
A note for anybody else making MA arcs: Balancing custom mobs is not easy. There is a fine line between boringly easy and team wiping, and the devs made it a lot tougher by handing out a gazillion Build-up/Aim type powers. The difficulty system we have to work with has terrible granularity as well.
Putting both my arcs up in hopes of comments:
Punching puppies
ID: 17281
Length: Long
Mission count: 3
Morality: Heroic
Description: An alien race comes to Paragon City begging for shelter from their murderous enemies! Will you help them? Last mission contains an EB for those soloing this.
Faceless Minion Boot Camp
ID: 87643
Length: Very Long
Mission Count: 5
Description: Faceless minions are everywhere! From the tiniest Council base to the deepest pits of Oranbega you'll find fine examples of faceless minions of all sizes! But where do all these faceless minions come from? Doctor Creed has an idea and he wants your help confirming his suspicions! Contains 2 EBs.
Now, both these arcs have a couple of plays each but I have yet to get a single constructive comment (the most helpful comment I got was "needs more cowbell") so I would really appreciate any kind of criticism, good or bad :P.
[ QUOTE ]
(I'll take review requests to ease some workload here. If you post here, please also send me a PM to be sure I get the arc ID number.)
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks! Here's my post from earlier in the thread:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...age=0&vc=1