I'm curious to hear more about Wardrobe Malfunction, (#11318). It has no custom enemies but I haven't gotten any comments on it and it looks like nobody's running it based on the fact that only one person rated it as of last night when I looked. 
My third arc has my own personal review in the title (Worst. Arc. Evar.) - yet oddly has the highest rating. 
edited to remove request on first arc - far more likely to just pull it at this point
Quote:
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Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
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I'd like put my arc in the queue for a review. If you get to it, great! If not, that's cool too. I'd really like to get some feedback on it, as I spent a lot of time building it.
It's a heroic arc...arc #46405. The Unmaking, Part 1: Entropic Ascension. Long title, I know. Level range is probably 35 - 50. Should be soloable (if it's not, I need to make adjustments).
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An Aside: I was actually under the impression that the nemesis soldiers, the tiralleuers and all, were clockwork and autamatons. Is this not the case?
[/ QUOTE ]
Not the case.
Nemesis actively recruits from other villain groups. Also, several of his lieutenants have advanced their own plots and later been put into Warhulks for "failing" Nemesis, and that shrively purple thing in the green tank is definitely biological.
Why do they all say "forsooth" and "gadzooks"? Because this is how you get in good with the giant army of ten-foot tall robots with power staves.
Up with the overworld! Up with exploration! | Want a review of your arc?
My arcs: Dream Paper (ID: 1874) | Bricked Electronics (ID: 2180) | The Bravuran Jobs (ID: 5073) | Backwards Day (ID: 329000) | Operation Fair Trade (ID: 391172)
I must say, "lol @ the changed subject title".
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There is (Almost) Never a good reason for a defeat all. - On this I agree On test I ran into one arc after another on huge outdoor instance maps where some writer obviously thought he was doing us all a favor by let us roam for an hour searching for mobs so we could finally finish up. On a short map with a short arc (1 or 2 stories) I suppose it not unreasonable but I definately agree that on huge maps and long arcs defeat all will see me DEFEAT ARC and quit before I am done.
[/ QUOTE ]The thing is, 'defeat all' is a very clear and obvious time sink that begs askance of how well-resourced you are as a character. For villains it's especially weird - why not just drop nerve gas on the place? Why not just firebomb it?
It's a game mechanic concern that makes defeat alls happen. If players want to run around killing huge gangs of guys, okay, let them and I'm fine with that, but forcing them to do so isn't cool. At best, players will be ambivalent because you're encouraging them to do something they would have done otherwise. Cleaning up individual mobs is the kind of thing I expect of the PPD or Longbow troops - not of me as an individual.
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There is no excuse for not using a spell-checker. I am a typo queen but agonize over any mission I publish checking and rechecking for errors. Agreed.. Oh occasionally 1 or 2 may escape me but that's what FEEDBACK is for and I have been very lucky and gotten good feedback from people that have played mine and gone in and editted and republished after making things right.
[/ QUOTE ]I heartily recommend OpenOffice as a way to spellcheck text before you paste it in.
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I don't care about your character. Or your friends. Or your friends' friends. - Define MY character for me please.
[/ QUOTE ]If you don't have a character you think of as 'your character,' this advice is totally unnecessary. If you've already got that disconnect between your character as an avatar of yourself and your character as a character to use in a story, you're already ahead of this step. Hanging around as I do on Virtue... this is not what I deal with regularly. I instead deal with people who think of their character as an extension of themselves, and who genuinely feel slighted when they're not the center of attention. You can tell these characters on sight, mostly - they tend to be the angel vampire haitian nazi freedom fighting Jew demons and they tend to have all the depth of a wet pavement. If your story is about how awesome your guy is... I don't care.
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There are other archetypes than scrappers. - Oh LORD signed. Every other arc I have played seems to be written by a fencing instructor. Granted Scrappers and Tankers hold up a bit longer in combat than a Blaster but come ON people you can pick and chose powesets here. So what's wrong with an Archery Blaster than has Willpower as a secondary? Won't do as much damage but has better defense.
[/ QUOTE ]The other side of the coin; just because you can solo your arc on a scrapper doesn't mean it's fair for tankers, or blasters, or brutes, or dominators. Some bad guys are positively brutal against dominators, for example - and I use them because I know them best. Dark Armour stalkers come up out of hide with a stun aura on. What the hell do you do about that? If you're a scrapper, you kick 'em in the junk. Dominator? Die.
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There are enough arcs where the player is an idiot. - I am not sure what you mean by this. In several of my arcs the Villains insult and belittle the hero upon seeing him/her. Seems natural they are enemies so when 1 hero shows up to battle a warehouse filled with villains why wouldn't they be overconfident and taunt the hero assuming they are about to kick butt.
[/ QUOTE ]"Ah, $NAME. It's good to see you. Seems that a Mr Drol Sisemen has sent you an anonymous tip suggesting that if you murder all your best friends, you'll stop all crime in the universe everywhere for good." - it's not just a bad twisting of Brothers Karamazov, it's also really annoying. It's most evident with Nemesis, but there are some really obvious times when the arc presumes the character doing the arc is unable to put two and two together - either by over-explaining everything to them once or twice, or, more annoyingly, having the character go a long circuitous route to a conclusion that the player could have circumvented by just going 'He's talking about his sled, duh.'
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Can I add a few to your list?
[/ QUOTE ]I suppose? I mean, I'm always going to judge based on my list, but if you want to add general good-advice for arc-builders, go ahead. Hopefully, they're the kind of people reading this thread as well. 
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The thing is, 'defeat all' is a very clear and obvious time sink that begs askance of how well-resourced you are as a character. For villains it's especially weird - why not just drop nerve gas on the place? Why not just firebomb it?
It's a game mechanic concern that makes defeat alls happen. If players want to run around killing huge gangs of guys, okay, let them and I'm fine with that, but forcing them to do so isn't cool. At best, players will be ambivalent because you're encouraging them to do something they would have done otherwise. Cleaning up individual mobs is the kind of thing I expect of the PPD or Longbow troops - not of me as an individual.
[/ QUOTE ]
From what I can remember, the... well, not the best, but probably the least annoying reason I've seen for a Defeat All requirement boils down to "show these villains/heroes that you can beat the pulp out of them without breaking a sweat". Basically you have to defeat everything on the map to cow the group in question into not making any more trouble for you.
How well this justification works varies.
Current main:
Schrodinger's Gun, Dual Pistols/Mental Blaster, Virtue
Avatar: Becky Miyamoto from Pani Poni Dash. Roulette roulette~
It's handy as a way to keep things straight, to be honest. And if you're an arrogant blowhard like me it lets you pass your opinion and people will come to you to ask you to tell them what you think.
I, of course, intend to become City's answer to J. J. Hunsecker.
[ QUOTE ]
cut to a man working at a 1950's newspaper office
J. J. Hunsecker: You don't even know who I am!
[/ QUOTE ]
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"
The problem is, I do (though primarily due to 'The cat's in the bag, and the bag's in the river.')
And I know who Benjamin Disraeli is.
I fear that by being an Australian-born male in his mid 20s with his birthday in the latter part of April who is loud, talks fast and is opinionated while wearing glasses and toting an accent that makes me seem British, people might think I'm the other half of Yahtzee that's wandered off.
Yeah, but we can't actually HEAR you, thus depriving us of the most direct comparison to Yahtzee.
Anyways, both this thread and yours Venture have gotten kind of sidetracked. Make with the reviews, and slap down any conversations you disapprove of! These are your soapboxes!
Alright, so as to provide detail as to what's going on? First, I'm going to go to bed. If you really need me-related entertainment until I wake up, you can give arc 29262 a shot and tell me what a horrible person I am and how paraphernalia has only got three a's. Then I'm going to look at this list of arcs and see what I find interesting.
Here, incidentally, is how I'm formatting arcs in the text file I use to write the reviews:<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>Author:
Level Range:
Subject:
Arc # - Name
Rating:
--
</pre><hr />If you punch the thing in that, it'll be easier for me to add to the queue. Also, I'm prioritising people who have a clear story direction, who avoid too-common enemy groups and, this being the big one, people who have very few reviews so far. Part of this is because I like feeling like a giant jerk when I give someone one star and see their 5 drop down to a 3 on average, but mostly it's because the kind of people who push for lots and lots of feedback are going to get it anyway, by dint of their constantly pushing for it. I might as well be more discerning.
Also, if anyone thinks that my review of Hero's Halo was a bit off, bear in mind that's pretty much how I expect a lot of reviews to go. I deliberately started this thread once I had some really good, positive stuff to hold out as examples, and I will continue to search for that stuff and try to bring it to light, because I feel the actual ranking system that exists is absolutely [censored], puttin the power of judging art in purely democratic hands, then giving that democracy the incentive to lie. Without that system that strips away 'good' and 'bad' in the face of 'popular,' I would have more faith in the ability of people to find good arcs.
So keep suggesting your arcs to me. I'm really happy to offer advice and I send a PM to every person whose arc I review to draw their attention to the thread, often with more advice and direction for things to do. Feel free to ask and see if I've done such a thing. But if you just want another set of opinions alongside your consistantly 5-starred-by-all-your-friends arc... wellllll... don't expect me to bother too much. For now, this thread is my buffet cart and I intend to use it to sample what I do and don't like.
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Arc 1992 - A Hero's Halo
Rating: *
Alright, comedy is not usually something that lands with me. It might be because I'm a bitter, humourless shell of a man, it may be that I grew up in a religious environment that means only the most absurd or ironic humour is going to hit the crux that earns my normally mirthless smile. I've found a certain transatlantacism, where I merit wordplay and cunning linguistic over shall we say, slapstick, or scatology. So it was with no small amount of trepidation I booted this arc up because it says right on the tin, 'comedy arc.' What that typically means is 'sucks, but we'll call it humour, so people can't complain.' You know what they call unfunny comedy? Crap.
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That arc isn't tagged as comedy. The only arc I mentioned as comedy in its description is The Extadine Lab. I do mention some comedy in my sig, but it's "light comedy," as in there's a joke here and there, and meant mostly as a contrast to the one below it.
I don't know if that would make you change your opinion of it, but I wanted to set the record straight.
Issue 16 made me feel like this.
Warning: This poster likes to play Devil's Advocate.
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1992: A Hero's Halo - 3 missions, story driven, light comedy
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, I addressed that.
Issue 16 made me feel like this.
Warning: This poster likes to play Devil's Advocate.
I'd love to get my arc an honest review (two so far have been 5 star farmers) to balance out the inflated rating it has so far:
Author: @Rikis
Level Range: 40-50
Subject: Miriam Bloelch has need of your help again!
Arc 15831 - Name: Heaven's Not Enough
Rating:
I warn you now, it does have a couple of the things you said you don't like. Mission two, sadly has you do a run around the map, because of faulty front, middle, and back placement.
[ QUOTE ]
Yes, I addressed that.
[/ QUOTE ]So the arc's just bad?
In your opinion, yes.
Issue 16 made me feel like this.
Warning: This poster likes to play Devil's Advocate.
K, here ya go.
Author: GlaziusF
Level Range: (suggested) 20-30, villainside
Subject: The tiny sovereignty of Bravura arose in the wake of the Rikti War. It claims an ancient ruling dynasty, but it's an open secret that its holdings are products of military conquest. And even better, they're looking for freelancers.
5073 - The Bravuran Jobs
Author: GlaziusF
Level Range: 1-20, heroside
Subject: Mark Freeman finds a ghost in a machine. Following it will lead you through the scrap heaps of Skyway City to stop a grievous heist.
2180 - Bricked Electronics
Author: GlaziusF
Level Range: 11-20, heroside
Subject: The Lost are breaking into the cheapest apartments in the city. Finding out why will lead you up a scanty trail of evidence to a disquieting conclusion
1874 - Dream Paper
Up with the overworld! Up with exploration! | Want a review of your arc?
My arcs: Dream Paper (ID: 1874) | Bricked Electronics (ID: 2180) | The Bravuran Jobs (ID: 5073) | Backwards Day (ID: 329000) | Operation Fair Trade (ID: 391172)
Curiously, I'd already formatted those ones up - and ta for doing so - and am running the Bravuran jobs on Gallows.
I guess I'll throw my hat into the ring, either for Talen or anyone else who's looking for something to play.
Author: NeverDark
Level Range: 35-40(ish)
Subject: A routine mission to stop an Arachnos thief uncovers a mad plot to restore a supervillain to his former glory!
5923 - If At First You Don't Succeed
Author: NeverDark
Level Range: 20-29
Subject: Aid Rebecca Hurst in swatting a pesky hero problem with an undead fly swatter.
12034 - To Live In Infamy
We'll always have Paragon.
Give mine a try.
Author: Eryrex
Level Range: 40-50
Subject: A villain is willing to give Longbow information on Arachnos in exchange for a favor from the heroes of Paragon.
62774 - A Dinosaur Dilemma
Arc 5073 - The Bravuran Jobs
Rating: ****
Before I started this arc my first check was to see the level ranges it went over. And trust me, this arc goes all over the bloody place. Doing it with Operative Gallows means that I'm going to be getting XP for the whole thing, and at no point am I likely to be jerked resoundingly from one level bracket up too far into another one. This does however, already put me on the back foot - I like the idea of level ranges as representatives of what characters do and are capable of doing, and while some arcs - like the Descender - can play with that concept reasonably well, I find that more mundane arcs (which I do honestly prefer) are going to have to do something to explain my character's capabilities jumping around.
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An Aside: The nature of a level range is that it says something about the character. It makes a difference whether it's a problem for a 1-10 character or a 40-50 one. 40-50s should be taking on demideities, punching the face of god, breaking the unbreakable and effing the ineffable. 1-10s should be nipping minor problems in the bud, picking up books of power from people too stupid to properly hide them, pushing back gang activity, being menaced by big gatherings of methane-cookers with guns. Now, this delineation is entirely flavour-based... but for that reason I would very much prefer if the arc respect that, since arcs themselves are all about sampling flavour. Hopefully it'll go better than I'm thinking right now.
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Oddly, the first mission immediately strikes a chord with me by both including a Contessa, and by implying that my character is something worth noticing. Oh, sure, it's a typical escort mission, but the tone and manner paint my character as someone legitimately interesting to a tin-pot dictator and their family, and gives me a reason to want to do well. The arc also takes the interesting step of explicitly telling you to look for things in the arc and making it clear how they connect to one another. I'm not sure how keen I am on that - I think a well-written arc could smoothly eschew such things and lean on the flow of the story to connect points. On the other hand, the information was presented up front - so it's not like it breaks flow, since I haven't done anything yet.
I find myself further enchanted by the map usage. I might be easily entertained, but the wealth of maps available in this game has been something I've missed in the years of running paper missions and repeating the same plot arcs. It also uses an enemy group I like - Wyvern are one of my favourite groups for mid-level villainous fun because they're scummy good guys with an overinflated sense of the longbowish 'might makes right' attitude. Plus, I don't like Manticore. It's complicated. The thing is, I finished the first mission and found myself with only one clue... figuring the other mentioned clues would show up in the other missions, I moved on. Hope that's not a mistake.
The whole arc is done in a much more sedate, personalised pace than most. There's not a sense of urgency about it, which in retrospect is at odds with the way your character heads out of at least one briefing ahead of time. All of it works fine enough for most folk, and if not for Gallows' unfortunate tie to Arachnos it'd have worked really well. Plus, there's good use of colour in the briefing text, and a good, conversational tone. So far, my fears about the level range jumping has become a minor worry in the back of my mind.
As far as map choices go, a good map will ideally be something that serves the tone of the story, be fun to play on, and resembles the place it's supposed to be. A case in point would be the rave map, which was used in Burning Hearts to represent, quite well, a rave. In this case, the second mission hits the first two notes well, but unfortunately, it's a map I'm well acquainted with and finding it has seven objectives and change on it just makes me sigh. I don't expect it'll take too long, but it's still a certain hopeless feeling. Character info was handled well, enemy groups were depicted well - I especially liked the way the Legacy Chain were willing to endure a little suffering for a better tomorrow - and I actually found most of the NPCs selfish and mercantile while still being quite enjoyable. Of special note is the combat pet in the second arc, who I ditched because he interfered with my stealth, but his comment actually made me feel bad about it.
The tone and voice of the mission is also quite distinct, and doesn't make me think I'm dealing with some mustache-twiddling Strangly Villainside sort. Honestly, listening to him I wouldn't be surprised to see the Comedian from the Watchman doing this plot arc. Though even the Comedian was at least patriotic. Anyway.
Now we hit mish 3, and I'm getting thrown astride the 2-level bump. I'm trying to work out why, if there's a custom enemy group that the level range goes so oddly in this arc - 20-30, 20-30, 30-54? But we'll see. There are ways to limit a level range (like hiding a single Legacy Chain Kaolin, for example, somewhere on the map). The enemy group introduced looks pretty neat, has a distinct theme in names and powers, and overall, remind me a lot of Crey. It serves you well to know who does what, but at the same time, you don't get the feeling they're all handcrafted snowflakes designed to look unique. In fact, the designer has hidden their faces in many cases, which reduces the jarring effect of an army of identical twins. While I was warned about such things going in, I actually found one of the mobs a bit too rough, and saw the tell-tale sign that it'd be even rougher for a dom or controller - he was toting a damn shield. Being a dirty [censored], I came back and mugged him with inspirations running. This just served to play into the theme further. But then, I died again at the next time one turned up. Then again. Then again.
Now, I'm up late right now and I feel like hell warmed over, but come on. Gallows is a Bane Spider, so he's no scrapper or tanker, he has only common IOs (and a lone KB Protection IO) - he is in essence, very close to the baseline performance, and he's getting two-shotted by a lieutenant type. What can you do? Buy inspirations and come back. Testament to the arc, really - I'm three missions in, I encounter a roadblock like this, and my native response is not to just say 'Stuff it,' and move on. One more and I think I will, though, which would be a damn shame. It's not even a type of guy you can avoid, an optional badass. You need to off some of them for a mission goal. Eventually, huffing enough inspirations carried the day, though it really did feel embarassing to need to for a +1 lieutenant... multiple times. The third mish has one thing I've become fond of - an enemy spawning based on something else happening. The problem is, the hint for where to find the newly-spawned badguy is totally unhelpful because it seems to be wrong.
In the end, what did I think? Well, great dialogue, and a story that covers a range of interesting enemy groups and only really gets weird when you have to deal with the level range issue. Surely there's some way to redeem that, but in my sleepless state right now, I don't know it. No, instead, I've just got a fun little arc that happens to get a bit weird when you look at it too hard. The crazy little tin-pot nation of Foreignania is a long-standing trope of comic fiction. To avoid seeming politically incorrect, comic authors would often create a functional copy of a real place, then proceed to fill that fictional country with every last politically incorrect stereotype they could. This means that some places, like Latveria and whatever tiny country Storm's husband supposedly ruled, tend to be thin parodies that nonetheless are full of jet-setting bond-esque intrigue and fun. This arc really did make me feel like a Bond villain exploiting another bond villain's misfortune - and okay, a few people got greased in the wheels along the way, but who cares, right? The priority is me.
A very strong four. Recommended to anyone in the level range - whatever that is.
First off, thank you very much for the review and suggestions. I'll definitely follow through on some of the ideas you passed along. Honestly, I can't say why I didn't in the first place since I'm a stickler for those.
Secondly though:
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An Aside: Mission one features an Elite Boss. To me, Elite Bosses feel like they should be the kind of thing you build up to. Having one straight out of the gates can be disheartening. Now, by the 35-50 bracket, I can see Elite Bosses having a home in everything, being used as big, hard impressive bruisers who lead normal squads... but that's an issue of escalation. So, two steps forward, one step back.
[/ QUOTE ]
This is getting changed and removed.
I was stumped as to how to get a proper level restriction going so I just dumped in the only enemy in that group that capped at the right level (35). Unfortunately, it was this EB.
So I'm going to rework Mission 1 and take that guy out. It was really just a complete mess up including him in the first place. I'll find a way to still cap it properly but without resorting to such ham-handed measures.
Head of TRICK, the all Trick Arrow and Traps SG
Part of the Repeat Offenders
Still waiting for his Official BackAlleyBrawler No-Prize
I'll throw a couple in.
Author: @Lazarus
Level Range: 35-40
Subject: A simple late-night robbery leads to a major ordeal when you steal an innocent looking item that every villain seems to be willing to kill you for. Problem is, you can't seem to get rid of it even if you wanted to. (No AVs)
Arc #1567 - MacGuffin Delivery Service
Rating:
Author: @Lazarus
Level Range: 25-33
Subject: A search for two missing Midnighters leads to an attack on the Midnight Club itself and a battle for you very mind and soul. (There is an AV, but allies are available.)
Arc #1709 - The Amulet of J'gara
Rating:
I'd prefer that Portal Bandits be left alone for now since I plan to fix a lot of the problems with the story over the next couple days.
I'll toss mine in as well.
[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: The Stream of Time
Arc ID: #40738
Faction: Neutral
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Silent Spy
Difficulty Level: Lvs40-50. Mid-Hard Difficulty.
Recommended Team Size: Could be done solo, but its more fun with friends.
Synopsis: Anomalies have been detected coming from the past in the stream of time!
Estimated Time to Play: 45-60 mins
[/ QUOTE ]
50s: Silent Spy - MA/Regen Scrapper | Tinkerhell - SS/Inv Brute | Extrasensory - Psi/Men Blaster | Ana Cruz - DP/PD Corruptor | Sara Thunderbird - Elec/Elec Scrapper | Pinstrike - Spines/SR Scrapper | Cold Feet - Cold/Cold Blaster
@Silent Spy, Champion Server
Talen You and I have crossed path before and I always enjoy a good debate so let me start the discussion
There is (Almost) Never a good reason for a defeat all. - On this I agree On test I ran into one arc after another on huge outdoor instance maps where some writer obviously thought he was doing us all a favor by let us roam for an hour searching for mobs so we could finally finish up. On a short map with a short arc (1 or 2 stories) I suppose it not unreasonable but I definately agree that on huge maps and long arcs defeat all will see me DEFEAT ARC and quit before I am done.
There is no excuse for not using a spell-checker. I am a typo queen but agonize over any mission I publish checking and rechecking for errors. Agreed.. Oh occasionally 1 or 2 may escape me but that's what FEEDBACK is for and I have been very lucky and gotten good feedback from people that have played mine and gone in and editted and republished after making things right.
I don't care about your character. Or your friends. Or your friends' friends. Define MY character for me please. I have a total of one story where I use myself not only as the mission contact but also show up as an ally inside. Now that one revolves around the Taxibots and will be published this weekend as a suprise for the SG on our adventure night .. after that it will probably get pulled for others. However I have created a few of my own contacts to introduce story arcs and even used one or two in missions as either allies or simply captives. If it fits with the story and I don't make myself the focal point I see no harm in that. Do you?
There are other archetypes than scrappers. - Oh LORD signed. Every other arc I have played seems to be written by a fencing instructor. Granted Scrappers and Tankers hold up a bit longer in combat than a Blaster but come ON people you can pick and chose powesets here. So what's wrong with an Archery Blaster than has Willpower as a secondary? Won't do as much damage but has better defense.
There are enough arcs where the player is an idiot. - I am not sure what you mean by this. In several of my arcs the Villains insult and belittle the hero upon seeing him/her. Seems natural they are enemies so when 1 hero shows up to battle a warehouse filled with villains why wouldn't they be overconfident and taunt the hero assuming they are about to kick butt.
Custom monsters are not necessary for a good arc - Are we referring to the hundreds of Vampire, Zombie, etc arcs here or Custom characters in general. Frankly I am avoiding arcs using characters I can battle any day or night in the regular game. I look for custom villains for the change of pace and quite frankly have found a few, more than a few actually, that have done a very good job designing their villain group. I think the custom groups are what is making this so popular.. a chance to battle something new and different.
Level ranges are good things. - Absolutely no argument here. I had up an arc briefly that contained 2 allies. I had them available and though people might enjoy having Back Alley Brawler and Numina helping them. Then I realized that this limited the arc to players from, if I recall correctly, 40 -50. Didn't seem fair and since I also want feedback and ratings from as many people as possible it also seemed I was limiting my audience. So I deleted those two and created my own "heroes" to assist. I like seeing arcs that are available from 1-54 because its allowing every player out there a chance to enjoy the story.
Can I add a few to your list?
* Glowies and destructables are not meant to be a map wide decoration. - I am finding way too many missions (and suprising getting high ratings.. from the badge hounds I assume) that have 30 glowies to click, 25 things to destroy, 18 kidnap victims to rescue.. oh and maybe one boss to battle. People may not be able to farm for the old badges but as always they have found a way to farm for the MA ones.
* Multiple ambushes WHILE I am battling your AV/EB will result in me just quitting your mission. - I did an arc recently where at 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 life the AV (a Mastermind set to extreme so she already had a ton of backup) called for and got huge ambushes. I was on a Regen Scrapper so the first time I died I hit self rez and was ready to continue. Then the 2nd amush hit and as I laid there on the floor I saw a collection of minions and lieutenants waiting for me to return from the hospital. End of story.. I went to hospital, quit the arc, and gave the story 2 stars. I want a challenge don't get me wrong people but if I can't solo it on heroic with a Regen Scrapper that HAD and used MoG.. how many other people do you think will every be able to finish it?
* every minion does not have to create a life and death struggle. - If its not Scrapper R Us and at times its both.. then it is Dark Mellee set to extreme. In Test gauge your minions to present a good fight but every battle doesn't have to see the player's character near death. I generally set minons to no higher than hard.. sometimes if thier powers are a bit low damage I will go extreme with an attack power and then hard with defense. They will do some damage but as long as the player is doing damage back they won't last long enough to put you into the red zone on your health bar every time you find a trio of minions. Save the heavy stuff for Bosses or EB/Avs A few good battles is fun twenty in one mission is TORTURE.
Okay that's my two cents worth. Have fun all and see you on line
�We�re always the good guys. In D&D, we�re lawful good. In City of Heroes we�re the heroes. In Grand Theft Auto we pay the prostitutes promptly and never hit them with a bat.� � Leonard
�Those women are prostitutes? You said they were raising money for stem cell research!� � Sheldon