I'll try yours if you'll try mine


5th_Elemental

 

Posted

I love Mission Architect so far and want to run more story arcs, but there are so many that it's hard to decide which to run. So I've conceived the following scheme to figure out which stories to run, and simultaneously get people to try my stories:

I will run through one of your story arcs, give it a rating, leave feedback (if there is room in your mailbox), and mention your story arc in my blog on the Liberty forum, if you'll agree to try one of my story arcs, rate it and leave feedback.

Since there is only one of me and probably 100,000 of "you", I'll set the following ground rules so that I don't get overwhelmed:

1. Post here with your story arc name and number, and your global name.

2. Run through one of my story arcs, give it a rating, and leave me some feedback so that I know you did it. You don't have to give me a good rating, but if you want to give me a bad one, please give me suggestions!

3. If you have multiple story arcs, please run one of mine for each one I run of yours.

4. My current rate of progress seems to be 1 or 2 arcs per week.

5. I will give each story arc a fair chance and try to get through it if at all possible. I'll only quit early if it's impossible to complete (buggy, all AVs, or Defeat All on huge maps).

6. After finishing each arc I'll post a review here and I'll mention your story arc in the next entry of my blog on the Liberty forum.

Please note that I cannot guarantee I will give your arc a high rating! If you will be unhappy if I give you anything less than 5 stars, then you may not want to ask me to give you a review!

Also, my review style seems to be most helpful for people who are willing and able to make changes to their arc as a result of player feedback. It is least helpful for people who are completely happy with their story arc "as is" and aren't interested in suggestions for changes. So if you've marked your arc "Final", and you mean it, my review style might not be as helpful to you.


Here's a list of things that help my rating for a story arc:

10. Good costuming.
9. Amusing side objectives (e.g. rescue random hostages, glowies with interesting clues)
8. Helpful clues (in particular, I prefer if the clue directly tells the player some info, rather than forcing the player to bring the clue to the contact, who then explains it)
7. Clever concept (some arcs just stand out for being different than the standard formula)
6. Dynamic missions (I like when it appears "stuff is happening" as you progress through a mission)
5. Believable plotline (some slack is allowed because it is a superhero game, but try not to make the player swallow anything too ridiculously unbelievable)
4. Descriptive mission briefings/debriefings (I really like to know what I'm doing on each mission and why I'm doing it)
3. Good dialog and characterization (too easy to leave dialog blank or give very generic dialog that any enemy could say; much more impressive if you get the feeling from dialog that "This is a real person, with personality")
2. A Grand Finale (final mission is your last chance to make an impression on the player; make it count!)
1. Sense of immersion (some arcs set a "mood" or a "tone" that is maintained through the whole story arc - IMHO this is one of the best attributes of a good story arc, as it "grabs you" and makes you part of the story)


Here's a list of things that hurt my rating for a story arc:

10. Custom enemies that re-implement CoH enemies that already exist. (Do we really need ANOTHER zombie/mercenary/robot faction?)
9. Player isn't the "star" of the story and/or Badly handled Author insertion. (The player should be an important part of the plot; don't let your NPCs dominate everything and leave the player as just an observer. Also, Author insertion that "makes sense" for the story is OK.)
8. Lack of dialog/clues/description from NPCs.
7. Just not much to do during a mission (Complexity = radio mission)
6. Time wasters (Defeat All on large or annoying maps; lengthy sequences of triggered objectives on large or annoying maps; objectives set up in a way that requires excessive backtracking)
5. Continuity errors (your clue tells me X, but your debriefing tells me Not X)
4. Mission Impossible (custom mobs and/or AVs are just too darn hard)
3. Game over: You lose (even though I do everything right, the arc is scripted to make me lose)
2. Not knowing why I'm doing what I'm doing (what's my motivation for this mission again?)
1. Missions aren't connected into an overall story (an arc needs an overarching plot!)


For what it's worth, these are my story arcs as of this writing:

LOOKING FOR PLAYS
This arc is pretty well polished, but I'd welcome more players to play through it, in order to try and achieve the 999 threshold.

Teen Phalanx Forever (arc 67335)
The Teen Phalanx is on a recruitment drive, and they've extended an invitation to a teen version of your hero to try out! Do you have what it takes to join Paragon City's most prestigious teen superhero team?
(heroic, level 15-30, but exemping from 50 actually works really well for the story too)


LOOKING FOR FEEDBACK
These are arcs that I feel can benefit the most from player feedback.

A Warrior's Journey - The Flower Knight Task Force (arc 260284)
Samurai and ninja battle for honor in a faraway realm. But someone has introduced firearms to the land, tilting the balance of power towards the evil Lord Kumo and the Spider Clan. Will you journey there to restore the balance?
(heroic, level 45-50, challenging; an AV-fighting team or strong soloer is recommended)

Papers and Paychecks (arc 298290)
JOB OPENING: Entry-level position available in dynamic, fast-moving Fortune 500 company. Seeking flexible, motivated individuals, self-starters willing to think outside the box. Excellent salary, benefits, opportunities for rapid promotion. Qualified applicants, contact Crey Industries HR Dept.
(villainous, level 32-45)

Axis and Allies (arc 1379)
Travel back in time to take over the 5th Column, and lead the Axis powers to win WW2 and conquer the World!
(villainous, level 40-44)


FINAL
These are arcs that I consider pretty well polished and are "done", at least for now. But, you're still welcome to try them, enjoy them, and leave feedback.

Talos Vice (arc 338380)
An 80s instrumental blares as the camera pans over scenes of Talos Island: windsurfers on the water, the Talos statue, shoppers in Wentworth's, bikini babes, sports cars racing down the Argo Highway, a speedboat bouncing on the waves. A title card appears over the waters racing below: TALOS VICE
(heroic, level 12-20)

Celebrity Kidnapping (arc 1388)
Boy, does Willy Wheeler have a deal for you! A celebrity heiress has been sentenced to jail for drunk driving. The plan is to break her out of the Zig with the help of some thugs, then hold her for ransom for immense profit! What could go wrong?
(villainous, level 30-40)


LOCKED
I can't change this arc any more (without jumping through lots of hoops) so I can't easily respond to feedback, but you are of course welcome to play it and (hopefully) enjoy it.

Two Tickets to Westerly (arc 374002)
While patrolling in King's Row, you see her. Trashy outfit, smeared makeup, unkempt hair; just another Skulls Girlfriend, you think. You're about to pass her by when she starts waving to you. "Please! I need help!" she pleads. "My boyfriend...I think he's in trouble."
(heroic, level 5-12)


@PW - Police Woman (50 AR/dev blaster on Liberty)
TALOS - PW war journal - alternate contact tree using MA story arcs
=VICE= "Give me Liberty, or give me debt!"

 

Posted

I'll definitely put mine up for review pw!

It Does a Body Good?
Arc ID 12798
Length: Long
Morality: Heroic
Description: Is fitness always a good thing?

Neutrality and Brutality
Arc ID 16338
Length: Very Long
Morality: Villainous
Description: It's time to defend your right to be a villain! The UN has decided to step in and "restore order" in the Rogue Isles

I started playing your Axis arc yesterday but had to quit for R/L reasons.. But it IS DEFINITELY on my to-do list (being a history buff I was loving it)




"Well, there's going to be some light music and a short note of apology saying, 'The universe ended last week, we're really sorry, we don't know what you're doing here, didn't you get the message?'"- Steve Moffat

 

Posted

I'd love to get my arc reviewed.

Arc 1992: "A Hero's Halo"
Morality: Heroic
Length: Long
3 missions
Description: I bet you think that halo you picked up during the last Winter Event is pretty cool, huh? Maybe you shouldn't be so trusting of things from the Shadow Shard...


Issue 16 made me feel like this.
Warning: This poster likes to play Devil's Advocate.

 

Posted

Arc Name: Shadowlight: Part I
Global: Phoebe Pondera
Arc: 20696
Length: Very Long
Morality: Heroic
Level Range: 1-54

M1: Contains Boss (LT), Collection
M2: Contains Boss (Boss), Defeat All (It's a very tiny bank, not a lot of mobs to begin with)
M3: Contains Boss (Boss)
M4: Contains Boss (EB and Optional Boss, although the map layout can force you into fighting the Optional Boss)

Difficulty: Moderate (Bosses on M2, 3, and 4 are a little above the general difficulty curve)

Enemy Group(s): Shadowlight (Custom)

Summary: Time traveling thieves are stealing relics from the past. You need to retrieve those relics before they can be placed into the hands of King Staunton.

-----

As you can guess, there is meant to be a Part II and III eventually. No worries about it though, each Arc (including the first) is a self contained story. No cliff hangers or anything like that.

-----

I'll be checking out that Axis and Allies map pretty soon...that one sounds good right off the bat


 

Posted

I heartily endorse this arrangement. Forming a group of mutual reviewers seeking substantive commentary is a wonderful idea. I'll happily contribute - both in feedback, and in stories of my own.

Arc Name: Cutthroat Competition
Arc ID: 10171

Creator Global Name: @Frozen Northman

Faction: Storyline is for villains. Vahzilok as allies, Circle of Thorns and Custom Critters as enemies.

Difficulty Level: Can be soloed, as allies have been inserted to help with the big final mission. Level range is roughly 15-22. Of course, the CoT can be annoying at this level range, so solo support-class types at lower levels may have difficulty.

Synopsis: A simple task from the Facemaker to round up a batch of live organ donors swiftly escalates into all-out war with another faction for the limited resource pool of innocent victims.

Estimated Time To Play: Four missions, runs from 30 minutes to an hour solo on Difficulty level 2.

Link to Feedback

Arc Name: A Tooth For A Tooth
Arc ID: 10173

Creator Global Name: @Frozen Northman

Faction: Storyline is for villains. Enemies include the Midnighter's Club, Trolls, and Custom Enemies.

Difficulty Level: Initial feedback suggests that a team is advisable. The final mission auto-scales to levels 15-20, and includes a Hero and a customized Archvillain. (Both of whom would scale to Elite Boss level on solo or for low difficulties, but that could still be a rough challenge for certain characters.)

Synopsis: A centuries-old dwarf seeks to rebuild his power and influence in the modern age, taking vengeance as he does so. Elements of Scandinavian mythology are incorporated.

Estimated Time To Play: Mission 1 is lvl 14-33, Missions 2 and 3 are lvl 1-54, and Mission 4 is lvl 15-20. The first two missions should go by pretty quickly. Missions 3 and 4 will take some more time to get through.

Link to Feedback


 

Posted

Here is a quick tidbit on mine;
Arc Name: Midnight Bells Toll
Arc ID: 12217
Faction: Villain
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Mylia Stenetch

Since I am not too busy tonight I will be trying one of your out


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]

Axis and Allies
Arc ID: 1379
Length: Long
Morality: Villainous
Description: Travel back in time to take over the 5th Column, and lead the Axis powers to win WW2 and conquer the World!

Celebrity Kidnapping
Arc ID: 1388
Length: Medium
Morality: Villainous
Description: Boy, does Willy Wheeler have a deal for you! A celebrity heiress has been sentenced to jail for drunk driving. The plan is to break her out of the Zig with the help of some thugs, then hold her for ransom for immense profit! What could go wrong?

Anyway, hope this sounds interesting! Looking forward to trying some stories.

[/ QUOTE ]

You sold me on those already, sound great and the villainous feel is what I live


 

Posted

Well I played Axis vs Allies, here's what I got out of it.

A lot of fun, great story, costumes were appropriate if bland (but hey, it's the military so bland is accurate), and the mobs weren't to hard to take down. So just on the good points, it's easily a 4 star arc to me.

As far as some advice goes now.

You need to make one of two things happen in your final mission I think. Either your allies need to become EB/AV's, or you need to create a custom hero instead of using Statesman. While anybody at high level shouldn't have a huge problem, anybody below level 40 getting bumped up hurts way to much. All of your missions up until the last one were designed for all levels in mind, the last one being designed for 40+ sorta throws off the flow of the story completely.

While Statesman is an optional boss, he ended up right next to the mission objective for me and so I had no real way of actually getting to the objective once he one-shot both LT allies.

Also, Stalingrad is evil. Plain evil. Took 20-30 minutes to fly around the city and find the two people I was supposed to kill.

Still a lot of fun to play, but if your considering it, I recommend holding off until high level to play the Arc.


 

Posted

Loved Axis and Allies PW.. a couple minor tweaks.

In the final mission, the dialogue for General MacAurthur comes up like this:

"I hear the $name is planning to attack us. I'd sure like a piece of $himher!"

Also.. might I suggest for the French at Dunkirk giving them Kinetics? Makes it easier for them to run away lol!

And also.. I started playing after the Council takeover, so I never got to see any of the cool 5th Column Maps- so seeing the Wolf's Den was a treat!

And I loved the stalingrad mission.. you really nailed the uniforms and the powers really reflected the Russian soldier during the war. Definitely 5 STARS!




"Well, there's going to be some light music and a short note of apology saying, 'The universe ended last week, we're really sorry, we don't know what you're doing here, didn't you get the message?'"- Steve Moffat

 

Posted

Unbearable Funk
Arc ID: #3573
Faction: Neutral
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Train Wreck
Difficulty Level: Medium, Arc contains 2 EBs and 0 AVs
Estimated Time to Play: Four missions on small to medium maps. I would estimate 0.5 to 1 hour to play.
Synopsis: Mr. Igor's master hasn't been himself lately, and it is really starting to worry him. Help Igor improve his boss's mood while sabotaging a rival mad scientist's work.

Feedback Thread

Give it a whirl when you can. I'm going to fire up one of yours shortly!

TW


My Arcs:
Unbearable Funk #3573
Tale of the Creatures From Another Forbidden Planet #97983

My Deviant Art Page

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
I'll definitely put mine up for review pw!

It Does a Body Good?
Arc ID 12798
Length: Long
Morality: Heroic
Description: Is fitness always a good thing?


[/ QUOTE ]

It does a Body Good?

First mission:

Warehouse employee, Warehouse Employee 2, Warehouse employee 3 : use the plural field to make this "3 warehouse employees to rescue"

I didn't get a very clear idea why the Pugilists had taken over the warehouse and were holding hostages? Their dialog seemed to suggest they wanted to make the hostages get in shape. A suggestion, maybe give the hostages the "working out" or "kata" animations and the kidnappers one of the "training you" animations, like the ones the Council have in Boomtown. Then you can make the dialog imply they are forcing the hostages to get in shape .. or else!

In the debriefing, "abalyzed" should be "analyzed".

In the clue, "you noticed" should be capitalized "You noticed". Put a period at the end of the sentence also.

Second mission:

In the briefing, "Hero, we may have a problem" ... I suggest you change to "$name, we may have a problem". "phramacuetical" should be "pharmaceutical". "Better World Pharmacueticals" should be "Better World Pharmaceuticals". "Than you" should be "Thank you" and "wierder" should be "weirder".

Aack it's a Defeat All Malta mission ... ohh the humanity! Please make this either a smaller map or change it to rescue a few lab techs and recover lab samples instead of a defeat all. I think having some bosses or hostages would give the mission more interest as well; the Malta should have some dialog which hints at their intentions here.

In the clue, I suggest you include Superadine or other CoH-lore drugs in the drug cocktail.

I echo Det. McLord's confusion as to why Malta were involved. Hopefully it will become more clear in the next mission.

Third mission:

"check out old gym" is not capitalized right. Maybe "Check out Old Gym". Some punctuation problems in the briefing too: I suggest you change "About a year ago. we raided a gym that was being used as a drug operation.. the owner was selling" to "About a year ago, we raided a drug operation based out of a local gym. The owner was selling".

I suggest you change the mission title from "Defeat Gym Trainer, find Evidence" to "Investigate Suspicious Gym". Defeating the trainer and busting the drug lab are already listed in the mission objectives, after all.

The trainer looks surprisingly skinny and weasely considering he's training the beefy Pugilist guys. I really think he should be at least as bulky; I'd make him look like Sylvester Stallone or Arnie. Also I don't get why he is stone melee; the kin part I can understand (he's here to buff the pugilists).

I got a ton of clues in this mission, "The Trainer talks", "designer drug" and "Homemade drug Lab" ... I think the Trainer Talks is a good clue but the "designer drug" and "Homemade drug Lab" both seem to say the same thing. Maybe get rid of one of them as redundant. "Homemade drug lab" says "It's not over!" but doesn't explain why you'd think that; I suggest maybe it include some records saying that a big batch of the drugs went to this other guy, Mick. Also "The Trainer Talks" clue is missing a closing quote.

Your designer drug needs a catchy name, rather than just "homemade drug" ... no kid would buy that! In the last mission you call it "Super Steroid" in the final clue, maybe use that term more often.

The Trainer referes to Adrian and Apollo; there oughta be a couple mobs named that maybe

Fourth mission

Mission briefing overuses ellipses (..), suggest you tidy up the punctuation a bit. Also "ovwerrun" should be "overrun". The contact wants me to go to "Paragon Park", wherever that is; is that a real neighborhood somewhere? The map looks like Steel Canyon. Maybe use the name of one of the standard PvE train mission locations, like Waxahachie Park.

I suggest you change the mission title from "Find all drug barrels" to "Stop the Pugilist Plot" or "Save Fitness Fun Day" (something higher level) ... 6 Drug Barrels is already listed in the objectives.

Saw some Malta battling the Pugilists but I really don't understand why ... their dialog should maybe give a hint as to what's going on.

I was able to finish the last mission purely by stealthing the 6 Drug Barrel clickies, which I think was a little anticlimactic; I think maybe you should add a few more items of interest to the last mission to make it seem more like a dramatic conclusion of the arc. I suggest you add:

* A Pugilist boss that you have to take into custody. Doesn't have to be an AV or anything, a boss is fine; we just need to capture the mastermind of this evil plot. He should have exposition explaining his master plot and how the citizens will all become more physically fit (or whatever) after ingesting the super steroid.
* For being a citywide festival, there aren't enough citizens on the streets. Maybe add some as hostages. Maybe add the mayor as a named hostage who can thank you for saving Fitness Fun Day.

If this feels like too much stuff to do, you can reduce the number of barrels some.

OK, in the final debriefing the contact says the mastermind behind it all got away. That's kind of unsatisfying; I really would've liked to confront this "Mick" and get him.

The Malta involvement is never explained; I'm afraid I really think there needs to be some reason for them to be there. You might consider switching them for Trolls (who are into performance enhancing drugs, which is exactly what your drug is; you can have them looking for a new drug and getting beat up by Pugilists; it will force your level range lower to use them though) or Tsoo (who are working to control the drug trade). Maybe even Crey, who think the Pugilists are ripping off one of their patented medicines.

Anyway I like the overall story and the Pugilists are a good enemy group. I think the Malta involvement needed a lot more explanation and the final mission needs a little more stuff to do to make it feel like an accomplishment; letting the big boss get away is a bit unsatisfying. Gave it 3 stars, hope you think that is fair!


@PW - Police Woman (50 AR/dev blaster on Liberty)
TALOS - PW war journal - alternate contact tree using MA story arcs
=VICE= "Give me Liberty, or give me debt!"

 

Posted

I did post an Arc, it's on the first page Shadowlight is mine, I forgot to put my global there


 

Posted

A Hero's Halo review

I immediately like the arc name, a pun on A Hero's Hero. Interesting premise about investigating the halos.

I duo'd this, playing my AR/dev blaster with a dark/SR scrapper teammate.

Mission 1

Good mission briefing and NPC descriptions. I chuckled at the contact saying he was actually going to go do stuff while I was doing the mission.

Minuses for having a catgirl, but reversed to plusses because the NPCs promptly make fun of the catgirl.

Mission 2

I like the custom hero ghosts you put here. I don't know these heroes but the description you gave them helped explain what was going on, and the way you used the custom characters made sense with respect to the story arc's plot. Thanks for not making them EBs/AVs.

Quantum Cowgirl's description, "apropriate" should be "appropriate"



Mission 3

Good job on the stolen essences. Their Rularuu dialog is great.

Yay Fusionette! Glad you included a canonical hero as one of the soul-stole. My teammate's comment: she died fast.

Powerthrust's stolen essence: tough boss, he went unstoppable but we managed to wear him down through it. Appropriate difficulty for final boss of an arc though.

Wow, even a fairly detailed souvenir.

Overall: good premise, well written, good use of custom characters. I liked it a lot. Gave it 5 stars.

---

I still owe a review to:
@Phoebe Pondera
@Frozen Northman
@Benchpresser (2nd arc)


@PW - Police Woman (50 AR/dev blaster on Liberty)
TALOS - PW war journal - alternate contact tree using MA story arcs
=VICE= "Give me Liberty, or give me debt!"

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
You need to make one of two things happen in your final mission I think. Either your allies need to become EB/AV's, or you need to create a custom hero instead of using Statesman. While anybody at high level shouldn't have a huge problem, anybody below level 40 getting bumped up hurts way to much. All of your missions up until the last one were designed for all levels in mind, the last one being designed for 40+ sorta throws off the flow of the story completely.

While Statesman is an optional boss, he ended up right next to the mission objective for me and so I had no real way of actually getting to the objective once he one-shot both LT allies.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm really torn on this. For awhile I had Statesman and Maiden Justice as the "pet" level critters that you see in the Mender Silos TF, to make them easier, but I had a 5-player team tell me these Heroes were pushovers in this form. So I upgraded them to AV level heroes, but then a solo character on heroic can't really solo them even if they're EB status, so then it's too hard.

I'm thinking I will downgrade them back to pet level critters; I'd rather keep the story arc soloable. I'll try to change that now. Though if I make them easier I think I should put them back as required objectives; you really ought to beat up all the Heroes to officially Conquer the World.


[ QUOTE ]
In the final mission, the dialogue for General MacAurthur comes up like this:

"I hear the $name is planning to attack us. I'd sure like a piece of $himher!"

[/ QUOTE ]

Ugh, that really should substitute the player's name there. I'll fix it though, thanks for the catch!


[ QUOTE ]
Also.. might I suggest for the French at Dunkirk giving them Kinetics? Makes it easier for them to run away lol!

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm, good idea! I don't want to give the regular soldiers kinetics though because stacked siphon speed would wreck the players, but I'll change the bosses to use that. I'll change the French general to run away at low life too.


@PW - Police Woman (50 AR/dev blaster on Liberty)
TALOS - PW war journal - alternate contact tree using MA story arcs
=VICE= "Give me Liberty, or give me debt!"

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You need to make one of two things happen in your final mission I think. Either your allies need to become EB/AV's, or you need to create a custom hero instead of using Statesman. While anybody at high level shouldn't have a huge problem, anybody below level 40 getting bumped up hurts way to much. All of your missions up until the last one were designed for all levels in mind, the last one being designed for 40+ sorta throws off the flow of the story completely.

While Statesman is an optional boss, he ended up right next to the mission objective for me and so I had no real way of actually getting to the objective once he one-shot both LT allies.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm really torn on this. For awhile I had Statesman and Maiden Justice as the "pet" level critters that you see in the Mender Silos TF, to make them easier, but I had a 5-player team tell me these Heroes were pushovers in this form. So I upgraded them to AV level heroes, but then a solo character on heroic can't really solo them even if they're EB status, so then it's too hard.

I'm thinking I will downgrade them back to pet level critters; I'd rather keep the story arc soloable. I'll try to change that now. Though if I make them easier I think I should put them back as required objectives; you really ought to beat up all the Heroes to officially Conquer the World.


[ QUOTE ]
In the final mission, the dialogue for General MacAurthur comes up like this:

"I hear the $name is planning to attack us. I'd sure like a piece of $himher!"

[/ QUOTE ]

Ugh, that really should substitute the player's name there. I'll fix it though, thanks for the catch!


[ QUOTE ]
Also.. might I suggest for the French at Dunkirk giving them Kinetics? Makes it easier for them to run away lol!

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm, good idea! I don't want to give the regular soldiers kinetics though because stacked siphon speed would wreck the players, but I'll change the bosses to use that. I'll change the French general to run away at low life too.

[/ QUOTE ]

The french running away sounds hilarious.

Also, if you really don't want to lower the difficulty of the AV, upgrading the allies to EB's (or maybe AV's) would significantly increase a solo's chances at survival.

On the other hand, I'm always in the boat of "To easy is better than to hard." If for no other reason than it gives more people a chance to enjoy the story. Once you do an update (and I get some free time) I'll be re-playing your arc.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]

Also, if you really don't want to lower the difficulty of the AV, upgrading the allies to EB's (or maybe AV's) would significantly increase a solo's chances at survival.

On the other hand, I'm always in the boat of "To easy is better than to hard." If for no other reason than it gives more people a chance to enjoy the story. Once you do an update (and I get some free time) I'll be re-playing your arc.

[/ QUOTE ]

On reflection I don't think it would be a good idea to make the helpers EBs since it would let the player walk over everything else on the map a little too easily. I settled on changing Statesman and Maiden Justice to use the "Boss Signature Pet" version, which should be significantly easier (though they have a scary looking Hero tag). I think I agree with you that making it too easy will be better than too hard.


@PW - Police Woman (50 AR/dev blaster on Liberty)
TALOS - PW war journal - alternate contact tree using MA story arcs
=VICE= "Give me Liberty, or give me debt!"

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Also, if you really don't want to lower the difficulty of the AV, upgrading the allies to EB's (or maybe AV's) would significantly increase a solo's chances at survival.

[/ QUOTE ]
I have to disagree with this, because I think having EB allies just makes them steal the show and do all the work. Fighting EBs solo is tough, true, but inspirations are there to level the playing field, plus you need a reason to empty out your tray so you can earn those insp badges. :P

[ QUOTE ]

Quantum Cowgirl's description, "apropriate" should be "appropriate"

[/ QUOTE ]
I'M SO MAD AT MYSELF I THOUGHT I FIXED THAT

But thanks for the glowing review! I appreciate it a lot!


Issue 16 made me feel like this.
Warning: This poster likes to play Devil's Advocate.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Also, if you really don't want to lower the difficulty of the AV, upgrading the allies to EB's (or maybe AV's) would significantly increase a solo's chances at survival.

[/ QUOTE ]
I have to disagree with this, because I think having EB allies just makes them steal the show and do all the work. Fighting EBs solo is tough, true, but inspirations are there to level the playing field, plus you need a reason to empty out your tray so you can earn those insp badges. :P

[ QUOTE ]

Quantum Cowgirl's description, "apropriate" should be "appropriate"

[/ QUOTE ]
I'M SO MAD AT MYSELF I THOUGHT I FIXED THAT

But thanks for the glowing review! I appreciate it a lot!

[/ QUOTE ]

True, you do have a point that EB's could make the mission go from challenging to cakewalk. On the other hand, even emptying out inspirations I couldn't touch States once he hit unstoppable, and he still got to one-shot both allies. By the time his unstoppable wore off and I could hurt him again, he had almost full HP and I had no insps.

Nice to know the AV's were dropped down a bit. I'll pop back in there later to give it a redo.


 

Posted

Ok, corrected all the typos I could find and made a lot of changes you suggested. I did think the last mission was a bit anti-climactic so I spiced it up a bit. I thought Malta was spelled out.. so I added a little more direct text.. it should be clear.

Try it again and let me know what you think.




"Well, there's going to be some light music and a short note of apology saying, 'The universe ended last week, we're really sorry, we don't know what you're doing here, didn't you get the message?'"- Steve Moffat

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Shadowlight: Part I
Global: Phoebe Pondera
Arc: 20696
Length: Very Long
Morality: Heroic
Level Range: 1-54

M1: Contains Boss (LT), Collection
M2: Contains Boss (Boss), Defeat All (It's a very tiny bank, not a lot of mobs to begin with)
M3: Contains Boss (Boss)
M4: Contains Boss (EB and Optional Boss, although the map layout can force you into fighting the Optional Boss)

Difficulty: Moderate (Bosses on M2, 3, and 4 are a little above the general difficulty curve)

Enemy Group(s): Shadowlight (Custom)

Summary: Time traveling thieves are stealing relics from the past. You need to retrieve those relics before they can be placed into the hands of King Staunton.

[/ QUOTE ]


Shadowlight, Part I review

Solo'd with a 50 AR/dev blaster.

Thanks for having the contact immediately explain who this new villain group is. Though ... how is this Time Crystal able to talk?

Mission 1

I'm a little surprised to immediately be placed in a Shadowlight base; with Shadowlight being a time travel organization, I was thinking a more logical story progression would have you time traveling to a time period where Shadowlight had been seen (or maybe recorded in history) and then trying to find a clue that would THEN point you to the Shadowlight base.

Pawn Swordsman description: "brunt force" I think should be "brute force"

I think it's odd that Rooks are described as having less defense than Pawns; since Rooks are "castles" in the game of chess, I would've expected them to have more resistance. Ironically, the pawns have a Rook symbol on their shields. I'm tempted to say switch the secondaries, but Rooks should really be resist based and not defense based; I picture a Rook as being a brute or tanker. If you had Knights I would give them shields though. You don't have to do any of this, it's just an idea.

High Rook Flarius: "High Rook" is an odd term, it breaks the chess motif you've got going. May I suggest you call him "King's Rook" or "Queen's Rook"?

I think I got two clues from this mission, both Data Files? Unless one of them was from killing the High Rook. If they were both from clicking the computer, maybe they should be combined to the same Data File; if one was from the High Rook, maybe it should be the High Rook telling you something.

Debriefing: "date file" should be "data file". "powerul" should be "powerful". "to dangerous" should be "too dangerous". The Time Crystal is able to read a data file? Seems a little odd. Maybe add some description for why a big crystal can interact with you like this (like the extra description the Radio has when you interact with it).


Mission 2

I don't think I understand why Shadowlight is robbing this bank. That seems a rather mundane crime for a time traveling organization. Since we are time traveling, rather than taking the artifact from the Knight who has it, consider having the hero go back in time just before when the Knight stole the orb, and foil the robbery. (Advanced Time Travel Technique, admittedly, but it makes sense, really!)

I notice that Lord Knight Tesla has the Orb of Tesla ... is he the rightful owner? If he stole it, probably it would be too much of a coincidence that they have the same name. Maybe call him Knight Electric or something?

I was worried about this being a defeat all but it seems a small map so it's not too bad.


Mission 3

Mission title: "Defeat the Knight" is a little too generic, since we just defeated a Knight in mission 2 also. Maybe change it to "Recover the Bow".

Again "Knight Robin" has a name that seems to too closely match the artifact he stole, Robin's Bow. Maybe call him Knight Archer?

Debriefing: Whoa, the giant Crystal took away my prisoner and is torturing him! Eep. I don't want to know how rocks torture people. This text seems kinda unheroic for a heroic arc also. Maybe just say that Sir Robin bravely confessed all he knew.

Mission 4

Briefing: The crystal keeps referring to the time gate but I'm getting the impression we'll never actually see it in this particular arc. So the crystal is sending me after the Arch Bishop in charge of the time gate, but he's not ACTUALLY at the time gate ... this description is a little awkward, may want to rephrase it some. Maybe something more direct like "Knight Robin has told us that the Arch Bishop will be at Such and Such a location at Such and Such a time. The Arch Bishop is one of the highest ranking members of the Shadowlight organization; if we can take him out, we'll deal them a serious blow." I'm not sure I'd mention the King and Queen if they aren't relevant to this particular mission or story arc. Also give some description of the location the hero is being sent to, the briefing as it stands tells you very little about where you're being sent. Maybe a little exposition about the magic pen would be useful too.

Popup as you enter mission: "Giant robots, mad scientists and a magic pen." Hmm, maybe I missed it but I haven't seen any references to giant robots or mad scientists yet?

I don't think I understand why the Bishop is holed up underground. It looks like he wants his worker drones to do some sort of work, but it's not quite clear to me what.

OK, after running into the Bishop, I now see he summons robots ... I'm not quite sure how having a magic pen lets him summon robots. Maybe it's something to do with Da Vinci. I think you maybe need some exposition from the Bishop explainining that he's drawing robots with his magic pen and they come to life, or something like that.

Yow, nasty Thunderous Blast from the Bishop killed me; I guess he is robots/elec blast! I think it's a fair death though, he IS the final boss of the story arc and the mission briefing was littered with warnings not to solo this. Managed to get him on my second try though.

I think this mission, as the final mission of this story arc, maybe needs a little more stuff to do in addition to just killing the boss. Maybe you could click some glowies (recovering other stolen artifacts) or something.

Debriefing: "commend you on your find work" find should be fine.


Overall: I like the new enemy group. They are so chess-themed though that I think they need a more chess-oriented name than Shadowlight. One complaint I do have is that for a story arc where you face time travelers, none of the missions seem to actually involve time travel! I think it would be nicer if you actually had to travel back to Robin Hood's time to stop the Shadowlights from stealing Robin's bow, and got to meet historical personalities and stuff. I think a little more explanation of what the artifacts are doing, via exposition from the NPCs or something, would be good too.

Liked it over all, I gave it 4 stars. Thanks!


----

I still owe a review to:

@Frozen Northman
@Benchpresser (2nd arc)
@Mylia Stenetch


@PW - Police Woman (50 AR/dev blaster on Liberty)
TALOS - PW war journal - alternate contact tree using MA story arcs
=VICE= "Give me Liberty, or give me debt!"

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Shadowlight: Part I
Global: Phoebe Pondera
Arc: 20696
Length: Very Long
Morality: Heroic
Level Range: 1-54

M1: Contains Boss (LT), Collection
M2: Contains Boss (Boss), Defeat All (It's a very tiny bank, not a lot of mobs to begin with)
M3: Contains Boss (Boss)
M4: Contains Boss (EB and Optional Boss, although the map layout can force you into fighting the Optional Boss)

Difficulty: Moderate (Bosses on M2, 3, and 4 are a little above the general difficulty curve)

Enemy Group(s): Shadowlight (Custom)

Summary: Time traveling thieves are stealing relics from the past. You need to retrieve those relics before they can be placed into the hands of King Staunton.

[/ QUOTE ]


Shadowlight, Part I review

Solo'd with a 50 AR/dev blaster.

Thanks for having the contact immediately explain who this new villain group is. Though ... how is this Time Crystal able to talk?

Mission 1

I'm a little surprised to immediately be placed in a Shadowlight base; with Shadowlight being a time travel organization, I was thinking a more logical story progression would have you time traveling to a time period where Shadowlight had been seen (or maybe recorded in history) and then trying to find a clue that would THEN point you to the Shadowlight base.

Pawn Swordsman description: "brunt force" I think should be "brute force"

I think it's odd that Rooks are described as having less defense than Pawns; since Rooks are "castles" in the game of chess, I would've expected them to have more resistance. Ironically, the pawns have a Rook symbol on their shields. I'm tempted to say switch the secondaries, but Rooks should really be resist based and not defense based; I picture a Rook as being a brute or tanker. If you had Knights I would give them shields though. You don't have to do any of this, it's just an idea.

High Rook Flarius: "High Rook" is an odd term, it breaks the chess motif you've got going. May I suggest you call him "King's Rook" or "Queen's Rook"?

I think I got two clues from this mission, both Data Files? Unless one of them was from killing the High Rook. If they were both from clicking the computer, maybe they should be combined to the same Data File; if one was from the High Rook, maybe it should be the High Rook telling you something.

Debriefing: "date file" should be "data file". "powerul" should be "powerful". "to dangerous" should be "too dangerous". The Time Crystal is able to read a data file? Seems a little odd. Maybe add some description for why a big crystal can interact with you like this (like the extra description the Radio has when you interact with it).


Mission 2

I don't think I understand why Shadowlight is robbing this bank. That seems a rather mundane crime for a time traveling organization. Since we are time traveling, rather than taking the artifact from the Knight who has it, consider having the hero go back in time just before when the Knight stole the orb, and foil the robbery. (Advanced Time Travel Technique, admittedly, but it makes sense, really!)

I notice that Lord Knight Tesla has the Orb of Tesla ... is he the rightful owner? If he stole it, probably it would be too much of a coincidence that they have the same name. Maybe call him Knight Electric or something?

I was worried about this being a defeat all but it seems a small map so it's not too bad.


Mission 3

Mission title: "Defeat the Knight" is a little too generic, since we just defeated a Knight in mission 2 also. Maybe change it to "Recover the Bow".

Again "Knight Robin" has a name that seems to too closely match the artifact he stole, Robin's Bow. Maybe call him Knight Archer?

Debriefing: Whoa, the giant Crystal took away my prisoner and is torturing him! Eep. I don't want to know how rocks torture people. This text seems kinda unheroic for a heroic arc also. Maybe just say that Sir Robin bravely confessed all he knew.

Mission 4

Briefing: The crystal keeps referring to the time gate but I'm getting the impression we'll never actually see it in this particular arc. So the crystal is sending me after the Arch Bishop in charge of the time gate, but he's not ACTUALLY at the time gate ... this description is a little awkward, may want to rephrase it some. Maybe something more direct like "Knight Robin has told us that the Arch Bishop will be at Such and Such a location at Such and Such a time. The Arch Bishop is one of the highest ranking members of the Shadowlight organization; if we can take him out, we'll deal them a serious blow." I'm not sure I'd mention the King and Queen if they aren't relevant to this particular mission or story arc. Also give some description of the location the hero is being sent to, the briefing as it stands tells you very little about where you're being sent. Maybe a little exposition about the magic pen would be useful too.

Popup as you enter mission: "Giant robots, mad scientists and a magic pen." Hmm, maybe I missed it but I haven't seen any references to giant robots or mad scientists yet?

I don't think I understand why the Bishop is holed up underground. It looks like he wants his worker drones to do some sort of work, but it's not quite clear to me what.

OK, after running into the Bishop, I now see he summons robots ... I'm not quite sure how having a magic pen lets him summon robots. Maybe it's something to do with Da Vinci. I think you maybe need some exposition from the Bishop explainining that he's drawing robots with his magic pen and they come to life, or something like that.

Yow, nasty Thunderous Blast from the Bishop killed me; I guess he is robots/elec blast! I think it's a fair death though, he IS the final boss of the story arc and the mission briefing was littered with warnings not to solo this. Managed to get him on my second try though.

I think this mission, as the final mission of this story arc, maybe needs a little more stuff to do in addition to just killing the boss. Maybe you could click some glowies (recovering other stolen artifacts) or something.

Debriefing: "commend you on your find work" find should be fine.


Overall: I like the new enemy group. They are so chess-themed though that I think they need a more chess-oriented name than Shadowlight. One complaint I do have is that for a story arc where you face time travelers, none of the missions seem to actually involve time travel! I think it would be nicer if you actually had to travel back to Robin Hood's time to stop the Shadowlights from stealing Robin's bow, and got to meet historical personalities and stuff. I think a little more explanation of what the artifacts are doing, via exposition from the NPCs or something, would be good too.

Liked it over all, I gave it 4 stars. Thanks!


----

I still owe a review to:

@Frozen Northman
@Benchpresser (2nd arc)
@Mylia Stenetch

[/ QUOTE ]

Let's see what I can counter, and what I can change.

The time crystal will actually be explained in a later Arc, but to sum it up for now. The crystal contains the united sentience of several people, hence why it refers to everything 'us' 'we' or 'our.' You'll also meet some of the people in that sentience in the second Arc.

As far as the base, I could change that by adding a new first mission to the Arc and having you intercept somebody on a time traveling run. That's not a bad idea at all actually, just didn't think of it. I'll go see about adding it...

Pawns having the shields was so that they would be a bit more dangerous in numbers and pretty much nothing else. I thought they would look good with weapons and that higher ranked mobs would have things better than weapons. Depending on further review though I could see switching things around a little. As is though I'm not sure I really want to oddly enough.

I could see giving Rooks a resistance set to make them tougher though. At the moment they use either:
Fire Assault/Fire Manipulation
Ice Assault/Ice Manipulation
Electric Assault/Electric Manipulation
I wanted to give them access to some elemental powers as well as AoE capability. They may end up getting a bit of an update though. Maybe give them matching elemental armor sets instead, and keep their assaults (or manipulations, not sure).

High Rook was all I could think of for a rank lol. I'll see about changing it to Queen's Rook, which makes more sense.

I have no idea why there is two data files actually. I'll have to go find where the second one comes from and remove it.

Robbing the bank is a bit mundane, I may switch it over to something else like selling a stolen artifact to another enemy group for cash. Again, something I wish I had thought of before.

As far as the Knights names, you don't know their names, so I just named them after the artifact they were carrying. I may actually give them some real names to avoid confusion.

As far as the tone for interrogating Robin...yea, that stays as is. It's done that way on purpose to show even the good guys may need to take harsh measures to ensure peoples safety. That, and the entity may not be as good as you think it is ~_^

You are right, you won't see the Time Gate in arc 1. The person behind it's creation is not at the base with the Gate because it's already done, he's working on a new project. In the briefing it does mention him building a new creation, as well as in his bio mentioning he is a scientist. The pen links in because it's magic gives him the inspiration to build the new giant robot (the pens power is inspiration to make new inventions). And yes, he is Bots/Electric Blast.

The Bots he summons are just more of those inventions. Checkmate being another (If you ran into him) and the giant robot being his big one. I can easily add some other things to the mission for people to do also, maybe getting rid of supplies or something.

Also, traveling back to stop him from getting Robin's bow might be interesting.

Basically I have a lot of work to do hehe.

Assuming your willing to re-run it sometime, I'll have it updated within the next 1-2 hours (maybe less). Thanks for the ideas!

[edit] Sadly I'm going to lose my current ratings, but I am changing enough of the missions around that I feel starting over (somewhat) is simply more appropriate than a normal re-pub. I'm going to be working on this one a while ~_^


 

Posted

Fixed up, the new ID# is 29825

If you get a chance, do let me know if you like the new version


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]

Arc Name: Cutthroat Competition
Arc ID: 10171

Creator Global Name: @Frozen Northman

Faction: Storyline is for villains. Vahzilok as allies, Circle of Thorns and Custom Critters as enemies.

Difficulty Level: Can be soloed, as allies have been inserted to help with the big final mission. Level range is roughly 15-22. Of course, the CoT can be annoying at this level range, so solo support-class types at lower levels may have difficulty.

Synopsis: A simple task from the Facemaker to round up a batch of live organ donors swiftly escalates into all-out war with another faction for the limited resource pool of innocent victims.

Estimated Time To Play: Four missions, runs from 30 minutes to an hour solo on Difficulty level 2.

Link to Feedback

[/ QUOTE ]

Cutthroat Competition review

Since this is listed as a level 15-22 villain arc, I played this with an 18 db/ninj stalker.

Mission 1

Love the premise and Facemaker's initial mission briefing; I was eager to accept the mission quickly so she wouldn't decide to break up my character for spare parts on the spot.

Whoa, CoT are here doing bodysnatching before me! LOL... that actually makes perfect sense. The CoT ghosts ARE kind of a pain with their acc debuff, but it's pretty normal to face CoT around this level anyway and I was able to mostly overcome it with Build Up and inspiration use and resting a lot.

I think the CoT guarding Yumi Kawaguchi and Minmae van Whooters should have some ominous dialog about what they plan to kidnap her for. Both Yumi and Minmae had good dialog after I freed them, though, and both Rose Thorne and her kidnappers had some good lines. I also outdistanced Minmae at one point and she had a nice line for having gotten lost, and sat down crosslegged to wait, something I hadn't seen done before. I liked the things they said when you got them to the door, too.

Raxanthris sounded perfect as the put-upon mage doing something he thinks is beneath his dignity.


Mission 2

Another good briefing from the Facemaker.

I like the zombie Abomination's dialog and how he says "Unh" three different ways; sounds silly I know, but he's very expressive! The zombie is so slow that he's a pain to tow along as an ally and I was tempted to ditch him, but really that is just how zombies are, so it shouldn't really be changed. It IS quite nice to have the beef along to help when I get debuffed by the CoT, though.

The Reaper minion kinda confused me; I initially thought he was in a battle with the CoT because of his animations, but he was really a captive, I think. Maybe give him a different animation to clue the player in that he's someone to rescue.

Wow, the ambush while fighting Mirko was pretty brutal! Mirko as a ruin mage is already fairly tough, then 4 ghosts and 2 archers showed up while I was fighting him and smashed my little stalker flat before I could actually drop Mirko. I'm guessing this was at least 2 ambushes; maybe scale it back to one? I got Mirko and his buddies on my second try though (after candy-popping some purples).

I started off a little confused as to why Leroy the Janitor is a CoT; it's not a very CoTish name, and he's helping me fight his CoT buddies, which is odd. Though near the end of the mission I found that I had clue, "Leroy's Lament"; not sure when I got it, no message seemed to pop up for me (probably a MA bug). It does explain why he's a CoT, but I did find it rather confusing to have both him and CoT minions fighting each other nearby, since they look identical.

I suggest you give Leroy the Janitor a slightly more CoT name, like make him Leroyaxus the Janitor, or even Leroyaxus the Sanitation Mage; but then keep his clue "Leroy's Lament" and explain that his real name is Leroy the Janitor there. Or alternatively his clue can say the CoT tried to call him Leroyaxus (or whatever) but he prefers to just becalled Leroy. You might also consider using a different name than Leroy, since in the mind of most MMORPGers, that name is strongly evocative of Leeroy Jenkins; not a big deal if you keep it that way though. It kinda works as an everyman name also.

Mission 3

I like these new Soulbound guys you added to the CoT hierarchy. Maybe there should be some foreshadowing or exposition about them somewhere before you run into them though. (Later on I found that you discover where they come from in the mission debriefing; I think there needs to be a clue during the mission itself, too.)

Ran into Stratus the Overseer, a named boss, but he didn't seem to say anything special; he needs some dialog to make him more interesting. Maybe he can monologue about what the CoT are up to here.

In the debriefing, Facemaker expositions that you told her the altars are mass producing warrior spirits bound to decaying corpses. I think there needs to have been a "clue" stating this, that you find during the mission, either after destroying the altars or beating up the Soulbound Berserker. Not Stratus, though, unless you make him required to complete the mission (otherwise he could get skipped and the clue would be missed).

I think the CoT making dead bodies into undead warriors is a little inconsistent with their actions during mission 1, where they were trying to kidnap the live supermodels. Not a dealbreaker, but it would be nice if these plots fit together.

Mission 4

Why are the CoT holed up in the PTS Station, I wonder? Hmmm.... demonic entity... uh oh. OK, that DOES make sense.

Azzanthraxxazz the Ravager seems to mistakenly be in the "All Custom Characters" faction, should probably be "Circle of Thorns" or "Demons". I wonder if you can make him taller? I half-expected to have to fight Bat Zul here, though clearly that would've been over-the-top.

OMG the Facemaker-modified versions of the kidnapped supermodels are awesome! Very stylish Vahzilok "makeovers"!

Face Tailored Minmae (and the other Face Tailored models) are also in All Custom Characters, but should be in Vahzilok. I also suggest you consider changing the Face Tailored supermodels names to match the ironic naming convention used by Facemaker's other assistants, like Lovely Linda and Gorgeous Glenda. Marvelous Minmae? Ravishing Rose? Yummy Yumi?

The map used for this mission is pretty huge, taking me quite awhile to clear the way to each of 4 allies, then to the boss. I have to clear the way since allies aggro on enemies, so I'm having to clear nearly the whole map. But I'm not sure if a smaller map would work though, since a lot is going on here (which I like for a finale) and it makes sense that they'd summon a demon at PTS.

Wow, Leroy the Former Janitor is really pretty imposing looking. I love the change. I'm guessing this is a renamed Dr Vahzilok? Having an elite boss ally might be a little overpowering. Then again, it is definitely speeding up clearing the map to find the other objectives.

In the final fight, Azzanthraxxazz was quite a beast, killing all my nurse allies and about half damaging Leroy before me and my mob of allies took him down. I actually had thought the EB Leroy would wipe the floor with the boss Azzanthraxxazz, but it was a closer fight than I expected.

Good debriefing from Facemaker. No souvenir though? Consider adding one.


Summary: I thought this was a great villainous arc. Great dialogue and costumes. I especially liked the horrible fate that befalls all the people you deliver to the Facemaker. I suggested a few minor tweaks but don't feel obligated to do them; overall it was quite a cool story arc. 5 stars.

------

I still owe a review to:

@Benchpresser (2nd arc)
@Mylia Stenetch

Still in the regular queue:

@Train Wreck (if I got a comment from you, I missed it)


@PW - Police Woman (50 AR/dev blaster on Liberty)
TALOS - PW war journal - alternate contact tree using MA story arcs
=VICE= "Give me Liberty, or give me debt!"

 

Posted

Thanks for the detailed review, PoliceWoman! And let me add that I heartily approve of your addition to the initial Mission Briefing for "Axis and Allies." It really helps set the flavor for the whole arc.

Cutthroat Competition was my first attempt at an arc, so there were a few stumbles along the way. It comes VERY close to the filesize limit, and problems are further compounded by a strange bug in which the apparent size of an arc seems to "grow" when you copy the files from Test over to Live. Hopefully, the Devs will be able to fix that bug soon, and I'll be able to look into making some tweaks to further polish things. Even so, adding one thing will likely have to be at the expense of removing another. It can be finessed, but it can be kinda tough. A single line of dialogue can take a few precious points of filesize, so they need to be used with care.

In Mission 2, the animations for the Vahzilok allies start running up against the limits of what I can choose from the options. From regular CoH missions, I seem to recall a standard "fight scene" in which it appears that a possible ally, and an enemy near him, are fighting one another mano a mano. Sadly, those animations do not seem present through the Mission Editor, so I did the best I could to make the Reaper and Mortificator look like they were putting up resistance. In another bizarre feature, Abominations as allies cannot be given ANY animations at all, unlike other allies. If you insert an Abomination as an ally, the only animation you can specify is what the nearby enemies are doing. And the abomination will default to the "kneeling captive" animation. A lamentable limitation of the Editor, I regret to say.

The insertion of Leroy the CoT Janitor was a bit of me being silly. I was aware of the legend of "Leroy Jenkins" from WoW, and that CoV sometimes uses "Operative Jenkins" as a possible reference to that character. Leroy was my attempt to add symmetry to that reference. I'll admit, though, I love the fancier name you suggest - "Leroy the Sanitation Mage." Maybe that's how he lists himself on his resume...

Here's another bit of history with Leroy the CoT Janitor - in an earlier version of the Architect on Test, it was possible to give him a "paintspray" animation, which I found hilarious - it was like he was futilely using a can of Lysol disinfectant in the sewers. But after one of the patches, this animation mysteriously disappeared, and I don't know why.

The ambush during the Ruin Mage fight is only a single ambush, though rescuing Leroy also triggers one. Since Ruin mages are quite the headache at that level, I might simply cut out the Ruin Mage's ambush and his reference to the same, which would coincidentally give me a little more space to add things like a souvenir and such.

Adding a line to Stratus the Overseer makes perfect sense, and I shall attempt to do so. He was inserted as an "optional boss" in Mission 3, because I needed [u]something[u] in that mission to cap the level range so that the CoT wouldn't all suddenly jump to a higher level than the other missions.

Glad you liked the allies that I added into the final mission. "Leroy the Former Janitor" does indeed use the Archvillain, Dr. Vahzilok for the body and powerset. One of the nifty aspects of the Mission Architect is that you can pick a standard CoH enemy as a Boss or Ally, but then change his name and flavor text. I was really happy how that part came off. And while this particular "ally" is technically an Archvillain, his powers don't scale to berserk levels like custom critters can, so I felt it worked reasonably well on that level.

I ultimately did a lot of balancing and rebalancing of that final mission with the three allies. If people really feel that having to round up all the allies is too onerous, I could probably make the allies optional goals. But part of my goal was to let there be some fun, cinematic combat as you gathered the allies, without requiring a horrendous "Defeat All" mission goal.

Another interesting tidbit - putting in Dr. Vahzilok as an ally, as with using an Abomination, does not allow you to assign him any animations. This is why, to my chagrin, he appears to be at the mercy of the CoT enemies that spawn near him. (It's also why I have him gripe when you initially find him, "You'd think the Mission Architect would give me a better default animation, dangit...")

Glad you enjoyed the arc!