Arc Reviews 3: Three times a charm


Armsman

 

Posted

Reposted due to rewrite of content and tweaking of custom baddies (regen + ice armor + flee on damage BAD IDEA) there is a backstory to go along with it but reader be warned it's long! It is the (almost) full story of how the arc came to be so get a cup of your favorite and enjoy. You don't have to read the story to do the arc tho so don't worry!
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...art=1&vc=1
Arc Name: Second Generation Hero
Arc ID: 41429
Global ID: @Rampager

Synopsis: You must help Rampager get his Mace and Armor back
Difficulty Level: 50 Boss, EB, AV, AV Allies
Faction: 5th column + custom

Estimated Time to Play/Number of Missions: 5 missions, 1 timed, 1 hr or less with 4 players
Morality: Hero


 

Posted

Training Day 1285
Rating 5 Stars

I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Ice/Ice Blaster on diff 3.

Overall this is a very good arc. It stands out with much better dialogue, smaller maps and great custom critters. The storyline is strong and coherent throughout. Contact dialogue is not longwinded and the in mish enemy dialogue is some of the best ive come across MA or PVE. There are two custom critter groups robot Drones and Cultists. The robot Drones and Ally O'Leary are great critters. Actually they are excellent and their look matches their powers. I would love to run this arc again with a team on an easy diff.

Mission 1 What has happened to O'Leary had me hooked on this mish from the first moment I stepped in. The storyline grabbed me immediately.
Mission 2 Faraday was tough to kill. I think he was set to run but I had like 5 chilblains on him so he finally died.
Mission 3 is a fine mish.
Mission 4 Kill Dr. Armitage again? Apparently he teleported away when I killed him in mish 1, funny he looked pretty dead to me, oh well kill him again.
Mission 5 Yikes. Faraday is friggin hard to kill. He sent me to the hospital three times. That guy just didnt want to die (especially when OLeary would stand next to him not fighting the whole time: some weird AI issue).

Overall this is a very good arc that needs a disclaimer for difficult play. Faradays letter to me (mish 5) could have been better worded and I think Faraday may be a little overpowered, but niether is so bad that it can knock a star off this gem.

Great Job!


 

Posted

Thanks, I will be making some edits to this arc in the very near future in terms of some of the negatives mentioned, more mention of difficulty, tighter dialogue, and a few loose ends from previous edits cleaned up, so feel free to play again!


 

Posted

Heaven's Not Enough 15831
Rating 1 Star

I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Ice/Ice Blaster solo on diff 3.

Overall I did not find this arc interesting or fun at all. It was long. The maps were too large. Custom critters looked ok, but nothing special. The difficulty from one mish to another was very inconsistent.

Mission 1 was probably the best in the arc. Story shows promise and Ally is very cool. Contact dialogue ok.
Mission 2 is very boring. The map is too large for the number of objectives. Then when you clear the objectives stated an altar appears. The altar then must be destroyed to get mission complete. That's not fun.
Mission 3 introduces the custom critters finally. These needed to be early because their is some excitement when they arrive. Their powers are interesting and varied and they look ok.
Mission 4 map is too big. Map is not appropriate for this arc. Why do siphons appear AFTER the stated objectives are done? Like mission 2 this one feels like it was just thrown in to make the arc longer.
Mission 5 is good but not great. First EB is much better than the final battle EB because the final EB is set to flee after a certain amount of damage is done. The first four missions are easy then this one is suddenly very hard. That's not a good thing. Final EB is hard to get a handle on. Dark heals are tough to overcome (Ghost widow?), but I never lower an arc rating solely because of that, as it is the players responsibility to learn to defeat dark heals, but once I get a rhythm and start killing it, it runs away, that's not fun.

Nuff said.


 

Posted

I'd really rather like some feedback on my longer arc Something comes to Yarmouth(ArcID 58812. It's a 25+ arc because of a lot of Coralax in the beginning missions.

I tried to tell as solid a story as I know how with the space allotted me while giving players a nice chunk of 'optional' content in the missions (not farm-worthy optional content mind you, but still some non-essential story-related things). The custom group that comes in at the end is reportedly somewhat tough and as a fair warning the EB in the fourth mission and AV in the fifth are both controllers.

I also have a short one-off mission I used to test the custom group. The similarly titled, Mutants of Yarmouth(ArcID1509). It may have been there just to test things, but I figured it might as well be entertaining for me, and so I decided to put in a nice chunk of entertaining comments and pseudo-story. As far as actual required content goes it's just a series of defeats. The two bosses, the EB and then the AV in sequence.

I'm fairly sure the main arc is free of at least spelling errors, but since it was mostly meant to be a joke mission the one-off is more likely to contain errors as I didn't run it through nearly as fine a comb.

If you do play them, I hope you have fun on them by the way.


MA Arcs: Yarmouth 1509 and 58812

 

Posted

Secret Origins Snake Women of Epsilon V 42221
Rating 4 Stars

I ran this arc with a lvl 8 Necro/Dark on diff 2.

Overall this is a very well written, fleshed out, fun story arc to play. The custom critters look ok, have cool powers and are fun to kill. The difficultly lvl is just about prefect and the last mish will send you to the hosp if you arent careful.

Mission 1 is a quick simple mish, click a thousand glowies get some info.
Mission 2 is quite fun, map is a little large, but it goes quickly. Number of objectives in fine and at this lvl clockwork are fun and challenging.
Mission 3 is where it gets fun and interesting. Custom critters look good and have fun powers. They compliment the snakes perfectly and the player can tell the author really took his/her time getting the skin and textures right to really look like snake people. I hate caves, but here i didnt mind. Map was not too big and it fit with the story well.
Mission 4 is good. As an MM fighting MMs there is a lot of action and movement going on. The enemies are not overpowered and are fun to kill. Nothing like seeing a robot fall dead as your zombies kill the MM with your health bar in the red.
Mission 5 is a great ending to a very good arc. This last mish is the best in the arc (a rare and wonderful thing) and you get ally help, which is nice.

I will definitely be playing this one in the future, on my villians, as it is a fun way to lvl up. This arc is much more interesting than most of the CoV PVE stuff.

Why not five stars? Rescued snake women didnt help or say anything. Although it feels fast for 5 mishes it still is long. Contact dialogue could have been slightly shorter.

Great job!


 

Posted

I'd like to get some constructive criticism on a couple missions I've made for the Scoop (which hasn't done a whole lot for advertising honestly).

Arc Name: Exploring the Architect
Arc ID: 2711
Missions: Currently 2
Description: It is two independent missions in my series of articles exploring some of the things the mission architect can do. The first mission is my AE take on the classic superhero choice: You might not have enough time to save both, so who do you choose? The second mission is just a fun little game of Whack-a-Mole.


 

Posted

Amazon Avatars 5909
Rating 3 Stars

I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Invul/EM tanker on diff 3.

Overall this arc is ok. The enemies are very tough, but there is a strong disclaimer in the description so no lowering of rating there. The custom bosses/EBs at the end of the arc are great fun to kill and look good. Parts of the story are revealed through enemy dialogue (great). The in mish enemy dialogue is good but usually way too long. I had a real love/hate relationship with this arc. At times I really hated it and wanted to quit at other times I was truly engulfed in it.

Mission 1 is very weak. Contact gives way too much useless info and the dialogue here is quite bad. The CoT mage here is very fun to kill, but he talks way too much. Rescuee says "I owe you words." ???
Mission 2 is a good mish, not great.
Mission 3 is another good mish, not great. Contact gives way too long an explanation as to why KoA chose Croatoa. Is he trying to convince himself? 'KoA are in Croatoa because of its huge magical potential' period, would have been fine for me.
This mish would be better if I was rescuing anything but Malta, malta are evil, i hate them, i say let the KoA win if it means less malta in the world.
Mission 4 is by far the best in the arc. Now all of a sudden this arc is really fun. It was a long wait, but now its worth it (maybe). Avatar battles were great fun. That first one that calls a million reinforcements is loads of fun.
Mission 5 is good, again not great. Archery (lethal) is a very highly resisted dam type in the game making this battle underwelming after great mish 4. I know Archery matches the charac; its just an observation.

This is an average arc IMO that has the potential to be a four or even a five star with some reworking. I would remove mish 1 completely and throw Artemis Avatar into mish 4 (making it a 3 mish arc). The maps in general were a little bigger than i prefer.

Why not five stars? Contact was wrong IMO. Contact dialogue was poorly written and way too long. In mish enemies talk way to often and have way too much to say. Too many patrols for my taste. Maps were a little bigger than I prefer. Opening mish info (box that pops up when u first enter) was too long and completely unnecessary. It is very long and it feels very very long.


 

Posted

Hunting the Dark Dragon 2922
Rating 3 Stars

I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Invul/EM tanker on diff 1.

Overall this is a good arc. It is very long and very challenging with great maps, tough enemies and decent in mish dialogue.
The author really took his/her time writing a thorough, well thought out story that includes CoT, Malta, custom critters, Arachnos and possibly a kitchen sink in there somewhere. This for all intents and purposes a TF.

Mission 1 is an ok mish. Nice map and dragon allies are cool.
Mission 2 is a major pain in the BLEEP. Great unique map, but filled with Malta is just not fun.
Mission 3 introduces custom critters that look great. This is probably the best mish in the arc. Great map choice.
Mission 4 is a great mish, albeit tough. I had no issues on the easiest diff lvl, but a team on diff 3 or higher would be wiped clean. Nice little surprise in the story here.
Mission 5 is a good mish, nothing special. A great map but the Dragon was way too talkative. That opening dialogue by Dragon when u exit the ele is way too long. There is a bad command as well; says "$name."

This is a good arc for a large team on an easy diff looking for a long exciting challenge. Honestly tough if its a PUG people will be quitting left and right. Ambush in mish 2 included 2 sappers (and i was on diff 1 !!!). The enemy jokes are usually good. Custom critters look great and have fun powers.

Why not five stars? Unique maps are nice, but long, when u have many of them it makes the arc very long. I was not a fan of mish 2, maybe just my taste, but I felt it was unnecessary. Custom critter allies were introduced early, but enemy CC introduced too late. KoA felt out of place.


 

Posted

Save the Music 16460
Rating 4 Stars

I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Invul/EM tanker on diff 3.

Overall this is a great arc. It is short it is simple and it is very fun to play. Many MA arcs feel the need to make very long 4 or 5 mish arcs that have a long drawn out story and forget that primarily it should be fun. Save the Music does not fall into that trap and it is a breath of fresh air. The custom critters look good. Enemy custom critters are tough but not ridiculous. Maps are appropriate to the storyline. Contact dialogue is short. Most of all it is fun.

Mission 1 is a great mish. Custom critters look ok and are tough. They are very fun to fight because they dont die after one punch, but they are not invincible either. Their toughness and dam output are perfect.
Mission 2 is a good mish.
Mission 3 is great fun. I generally dont like more than one ally as they tend to help too much, but for some reason I didnt mind here. I had a full team by the time I met the Machine.
"if someone gave out SB i'd be able to keep up." was hilarious.

I like this arc a lot. I will play it again in the future on a team on diff 4. It will probably get crazy exciting.

Why not five stars? Some miss placed dialogue in mish 3 The Machine says "nooo i have failed tv" then dies, then says "is that all youve got?" Mish 3 (or mish 2?) is a ramp up; im not a fan of that, their blue when u enter and then orange at the end, thats odd/bad.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Unique maps are nice, but long, when u have many of them it makes the arc very long. I was not a fan of mish 2, maybe just my taste, but I felt it was unnecessary.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, a lot of people seem to have personal issues with the Thorn Tree map, I don't blame ya. It was necessary for the story though, to convey the feeling that the Dark Dragon is supposedly very powerful. As for Malta...eh, I like fighting them. They're one of the few standard NPC groups you actually need to be careful with. Some people (like me) like that, others don't, so whatever floats your boat there, I guess.

[ QUOTE ]
Custom critter allies were introduced early, but enemy CC introduced too late.

[/ QUOTE ]
Interesting opinion. At which point in the story would you feel their appearance would come across better?

[ QUOTE ]
KoA felt out of place.

[/ QUOTE ]
Not sure I understand. According to game lore, KoA and Malta are supposed to be complementary organizations. How does their presence feel out of place?

[ QUOTE ]
Ambush in mish 2 included 2 sappers (and i was on diff 1 !!!).

[/ QUOTE ]
Nah, you just spawned two ambushes at once. I removed the second one so that can't happen anymore. Thanks for finding this.

[ QUOTE ]
A great map but the Dragon was way too talkative. That opening dialogue by Dragon when u exit the ele is way too long. There is a bad command as well; says "$name."

[/ QUOTE ]
Command's correct, but didn't take, so I removed it. Also cut that text by about half. Thanks for finding that too.


"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi

Characters

 

Posted


I said:
KoA felt out of place.
Your reply:
Not sure I understand. According to game lore, KoA and Malta are supposed to be complementary organizations. How does their presence feel out of place?

It was just my gut reaction while in the mish. We know they have worked together, in fact Malta is a loose knit group of different organizations with like minded ideologies. So Malta hypothetically can be working with any group in the game. I guess I felt that way because the KoA we'ren't mentioned in the storyline and there are just a few added into an arc that is mostly Malta.


 

Posted

Here's mine

I Dream of Fusionette

Arc# 86187
Heroic
Level 35-50
3 missions, all small maps, 1 EB

Nothing too hard in my opinion. Received a couple of comments that they liked the challenge, and haven't received any negative feedbacks about that. Although the comments were from close friends so not sure if they count

EDIT: EB is now a required objective


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]

I said:
KoA felt out of place.
Your reply:
Not sure I understand. According to game lore, KoA and Malta are supposed to be complementary organizations. How does their presence feel out of place?

It was just my gut reaction while in the mish. We know they have worked together, in fact Malta is a loose knit group of different organizations with like minded ideologies. So Malta hypothetically can be working with any group in the game. I guess I felt that way because the KoA we'ren't mentioned in the storyline and there are just a few added into an arc that is mostly Malta.

[/ QUOTE ]
I see. I'll see what I can do about that. I put her in there mostly so people couldn't stealth past her since Malta don't have any +perception; I thought the established tradition of KoA patrols found in Malta bases in the pre-MA story arcs set enough of a precedent there, but apparently there's room for improvement there. Thanks for your input.

Oh, and any thoughts to my other question?


"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi

Characters

 

Posted

I've been fidgeting with the mission architect for a few days now and have published my first arc. It contains a custom group which I think is pretty well-balanced, and contains a storyline that I feel is well-written. Any feedback would be helpful.

Arc Name: The Oblivion Lens
Arc ID: 91897
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: Mr Beatdown/GahLakTus
Difficulty Level: Difficult, not impossible. Does contain an archvillian and may be difficult to solo for team-optimized characters.
Synopsis: What starts out as a battle against the Circle of Thorns turns into something far more dire when a mysterious artifact is recovered. Five missions pit the player against the Circle of Thorns, the Council, and a custom group. Only one defeat all mission, and it only really requires you to defeat all the enemies in the last room.


 

Posted

Take a pick from any of the ones in my signature. They're all 5 missions long but soloable. Blargrimmar is a light-hearted comedy arc while the other two are more serious stories. Have fun!


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]


Oh, and any thoughts to my other question?

[/ QUOTE ]

Honestly no. Again this was just my gut reaction while playing.

The second mish is long so there felt like a big gap between the rock band dragon allies and the pirate enemy guys. Could the dragons be introduced in the second mish instead? Flow and rhythm are important to me during an arc, so when I see custom allies I sort expect to see their enemies soon after.


 

Posted

That might be problematic. See, the dragons in the first mission are more a result of the Circle messing up their second summoning spell since the dragon they got from the first one put them in a panic when he sicced Malta on them. They're not the pirates' enemies; just people who got caught in the middle of junk while minding their own business.

I see what you mean, though. Sadly, the Thorn Tree map has too few spawn points to pull off the first mission in (the map's actually pretty small; it's just the last room that takes up a lot of space). However, I may be able to adjust the story in such a way as to move the setting to the outdoor Thorn Isle map, shortening the mission. We'll see how that goes. Thanks for all your input, it gave me some really good pointers.


"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi

Characters

 

Posted

Arch Enemy of the Imperialist 67098
Rating 1 Star

I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Ice/Ice Blaster on diff 3.

Overall this arc is disjointed overpowered and not really that fun to play. Custom critters look ok. There are two defeat alls, without any point in being so. Contact dialogue is poorly written.

Mission 1 is a ramp up. Enemies start white and finish red, this isn't good. There is a rescue ally that spawns a quadruple ambush. Four MMs with 12 energy damage robots is not fun after you've just fought a tough battle. Jonathan needs to be led out. Why? He's got a gun and the building is empty - its a defeat all !! You have to lead him out three floors away through empty hallways.
Mission 2 is another defeat all. Necro/Dark MM on extreme is useful for getting practice breaking out of prison cells.
Mission 3 is simple and straight forward.
Mission 4 includes a triple ambush and an overpowered EB.
Mission 5 has a cool powerful Ally and two very powerful EBs on extreme. After you kill the big bad guy you've heard about since mish one a new guy appears seeking revenge for his death. This is a completely new char and is overpowered.

This is a good arc for large teams that never read the contact dialogue and love pounding on very tough AVs.

Nuff said.


 

Posted

Carebears Kidnap PvP 11548
Rating 3 Stars

I ran this with a lvl 50 Invul/EM tanker on diff 4.

Overall this is a very good comedic arc about our favorite game and more specifically PvP. The contact dialogue is very brief and humorous which I loved. The in mish enemy dialogue is very funny and stays on subject. The enemies are tough, but not ridiculous.

Mission 1 fighting Back Alley Brawler was great fun.
Mission 2 was a very good mish. I thought Sunshine Bear + Defeat all would = bad, but I was pleasantly surprised. The fire imps from the Kin ally aggroed them all. I cleared the map quickly and easily. Great ally help here.
Mission 3 is a real tough one. Tic Tac actually killed me. Its been a looong time since a Invul/Tanker has died. In fact the last time was in PvP, so maybe the author is on to something.
Catfood is near impossible to hit. Even with yellows, capped tohit on BU and 1.21 global acc I missed her a lot. More times than I missed BAB or anything else, ever.
Mission 4 had an epic battle verus Castle while a thousand carebears come to help. Fortunately invinc gets better with more enemies and he went down faster than lonely tic tac.

I hate care bears, if you do to, u will hate them more after this arc. If you survive.

Why not five stars? I really disliked the carebears. I dont like the way they look, albeit very good likenesses, they're still unpleasant. This arc needs a disclaimer, the EBs are very tough. Too many EBs for me personally 4 maps 4 EBs, Catfood seemed unnecessary IMO.


 

Posted

Looking for some feedback. This arc contains an AV with an optional EB ally. This is a story-heavy arc. There's a defeat-all that is more for story purposes, but it takes place on a very linear map that you will likely end up killing everything while going through the main objectives and not really having to go too far out of your way.

Story Description: When the Rikti attack the offices of a brilliant evil genius, you are called to help. What is the meaning of the mysterious sudden attack, and why are the Rikti involved? All these questions and more are answered in the tale known as: Quoth the Raven.

Story Arc ID: 74617
Author: @Sroxah
Length: Very Long (4 missions)
Alignment: Villainous


 

Posted

I want to thank everyone for being patient. I realize I am several days backlogged from the time you have posted your arc request. Honestly that is probably the way it will remain in the near future.

I had time to work on my own arcs and now I am asking all of you, if you have time, to return me a favor. I would like feedback on my arcs. Don't feel obligated to write a full review. A few sentences and a rating is just fine.

Ciblorg Invasion 10445
Scifi, 4 missions (first 3 maps small), two tough EBs, no defeat alls. Can be soloed on the lowest difficulty, but intented for teams. Villain intented but not necessary.

Blondes Revenge
Comedy, one mission, one boss, not particularly tough. Neutral. Gets really fun on big teams on higher difficulty.

Thanks in advance.


 

Posted

ARC ID: 98299, The Infernian Invasion: Act 1.

Description: The heroes and villains of the world are forced to join forces to stop a full scale invasion on our planet, and you will play a big role in the defeat of the antagonist(and many others) of the story! Act 1 (of a 3 part arc) introduces the story with someone you may least expect to contact you about something like this, however, it is because she knows a great deal more of the main antagonist than anyone else. You are curious of her findings, and decide to help her out.
Length: Considered Very Long
Difficulty: Maybe not best to solo, however a MM did tell me he solo'd the whole arc.
LVL: varies, some mishes auto lvl
Alignment: Neutral
Enemies: Custom, and 1 mish containing 5th column.
Notes: 4th mish is a defeat all btw... the only one, & you may need an upping of diff for benefit of bigger mobs, as I am not sure of the diff. between testing and live version, but I noticed that due to "in-mish" help in that mish, it could be easy aside fighting the bosses.
Thx and enjoy!


 

Posted

Speedy's Low lvl Hero Training Service 64275
Rating 5 Stars

I ran this arc with a lvl 2 Energy/Fire Blaster on diff 2.
Duo first mish, solo remainder.

Overall this is just a great arc. It has no flaws. The missions are fun and interesting. The contact dialogue is funny and involving.

Mission 1 basically sends you to the sewers to do what you would otherwise be doing your first day in Paragon city, but adds some funny commentary.
Mission 2 shows new heroes that Trolls are rude.
Mission 3 has you fighting Lost, my favorite low lvl enemies.
Mission 4 teaches young heroes that they will at some point fail missions. I knew what she was trying to do and no matter what I tried I could not stop her. I failed.
Mission 5 Statesman would be proud. Lord Recluse not so much.

This arc deserves five stars because it makes the most boring part of the game less boring. It replaces the sewers as a way to get to lvl 10 (or almost) with funny dialogue and one enemy type at a time. I became immersed in the story and I actually WANTED to read what the contact person had to say; a rare and wonderful thing.

Great job!


 

Posted

Thank you so much for taking the time to have a look at some of my work. What you and a few others are doing here is quite remarkable and is really appreciated. Great Job. Keep up the good work.