Quoth the Raven 74617
Rating 4 Stars
I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Thugs/Poi MM on diff 3.
Overall this is a good solid arc. It is fun to play there is a varitey of stock CoX enemies to kill and it is story driven. A custom ally group is introduced, and honestly (except for the EB in the final room) they are pretty dull. The story is well written for the most part and the contact is not long winded.
Mission 1 remove Ritki from the offices, shows promise.
Mission 2 is a defeat all and destroy Ritki bombs in the sewers, this map is big, but since there are a lot of objectives it was fine.
Mission 3 ends with a great battle against a CoT Mage. Watching the Ritki and CoT battle each other, is cool and both groups are fun to kill. I would have preferred a slightly smaller map.
Mission 4 is the best in the arc. The final EB is tough, but not ridiculous, she looks great and is fun to kill.
This arc deserves a very high rating because it is fun to play and the story is solid. Each mish is slightly better than the previous one, a rare and wonderful thing. There are several great little tidbits that are revealed over time, the black feather, the vial, etc. I would play this again on a team for sure.
Why not five stars? The custom ally group is quite dull. Their look and how much they participate in the arc, they could have not been there at all honestly. There were a few (rare) pieces of dialogue that made me go 'huh?' "the SMELL of magic" ?
Great job!
100400
Not found. Removed?
Skipped.
Psycho Creation if you have something else you would like reviewed send me a PM.
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Quoth the Raven 74617
Rating 4 Stars
I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Thugs/Poi MM on diff 3.
Overall this is a good solid arc. It is fun to play there is a varitey of stock CoX enemies to kill and it is story driven. A custom ally group is introduced, and honestly (except for the EB in the final room) they are pretty dull. The story is well written for the most part and the contact is not long winded.
Mission 1 remove Ritki from the offices, shows promise.
Mission 2 is a defeat all and destroy Ritki bombs in the sewers, this map is big, but since there are a lot of objectives it was fine.
Mission 3 ends with a great battle against a CoT Mage. Watching the Ritki and CoT battle each other, is cool and both groups are fun to kill. I would have preferred a slightly smaller map.
Mission 4 is the best in the arc. The final EB is tough, but not ridiculous, she looks great and is fun to kill.
This arc deserves a very high rating because it is fun to play and the story is solid. Each mish is slightly better than the previous one, a rare and wonderful thing. There are several great little tidbits that are revealed over time, the black feather, the vial, etc. I would play this again on a team for sure.
Why not five stars? The custom ally group is quite dull. Their look and how much they participate in the arc, they could have not been there at all honestly. There were a few (rare) pieces of dialogue that made me go 'huh?' "the SMELL of magic" ?
Great job!
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Thanks for the review, I appreciate the feedback.
Just to explain the custom ally, they are really only meant to appear to be a device to show you that this group is really desperate for your assistance. Right from the start where the leader of this group is completely useless, to the second mission where the members get slaughtered (or kidnapped), to the last mission where the leader, even at full power, would probably not be able to take the target out himself (EB vs AV).
I wanted the story to be about the player as he/she has kind of stumbled into this mess, but sticks around like a good villain because the pay is worth it. If the group hadn't been there, I don't think I would have been able to get across just how important you are to this group if you were unable to see how inept they are without your help.
Glad you enjoyed it!
The Infernian Invasion 98299
Rating 3 Stars
I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Ice/Ice Blaster on diff 3.
Overall this is a fun arc to play. It centers around a new custom enemy that is trying to get a foothold in the Isles and includes some of the patrons. Contact dialogue is well written and the custom enemies were very good. I thought the arc started off well, but went downhill.
Mission 1 was probably the best of all. It is a defeat all on a small map that has you killing custom critters that look good and are fun to kill.
Mission 2 was near impossible to complete running solo, but clearly this arc is for teaming and so it is all good. Again small map, simple objective, excellent boss to take down.
Mission 3 was disappointing after the first two. There are two very tough EBs to kill, niether of whom were mentioned at all previously and they are set to run after a certain amount of damage. In mish dialogue ok, not great.
Mission 4 is kind of bittersweet. The map is great (a rarely seen 5th Column map) and the ally is very useful. However, the 5th Column were quite dull to kill after two mishes killing the Infernian guys.
I liked the contact and her dialogue is a good characterization of her. The maps were all quite good. The custom critters were good. The Infernian War Monger looked great, he was one of the best custom critters I have ever seen.
Why not five stars? The last mish is a kind of love/hate mish, I love the map and the ally, but the 5th Column and the double EB were strong turnoffs, the last mish of an arc should be the best not the worst. I would have liked to have seen Magmus. I know this is the first part in a longer series, but I would really like to see the guy that started this whole thing and that I hear about the whole time. Five EBs in four mishes is too much for me, clearly this is intended for teams, but still 5 very tough AVs in 4 mishes is going to annoy even the best of teams. Custom critters were much more interesting than the 5th Column and they're not in the last mish, that's disappointing.
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The Infernian Invasion 98299
Rating 3 Stars
I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Ice/Ice Blaster on diff 3.
Overall this is a fun arc to play. It centers around a new custom enemy that is trying to get a foothold in the Isles and includes some of the patrons. Contact dialogue is well written and the custom enemies were very good. I thought the arc started off well, but went downhill.
Mission 1 was probably the best of all. It is a defeat all on a small map that has you killing custom critters that look good and are fun to kill.
Mission 2 was near impossible to complete running solo, but clearly this arc is for teaming and so it is all good. Again small map, simple objective, excellent boss to take down.
Mission 3 was disappointing after the first two. There are two very tough EBs to kill, niether of whom were mentioned at all previously and they are set to run after a certain amount of damage. In mish dialogue ok, not great.
Mission 4 is kind of bittersweet. The map is great (a rarely seen 5th Column map) and the ally is very useful. However, the 5th Column were quite dull to kill after two mishes killing the Infernian guys.
I liked the contact and her dialogue is a good characterization of her. The maps were all quite good. The custom critters were good. The Infernian War Monger looked great, he was one of the best custom critters I have ever seen.
Why not five stars? The last mish is a kind of love/hate mish, I love the map and the ally, but the 5th Column and the double EB were strong turnoffs, the last mish of an arc should be the best not the worst. I would have liked to have seen Magmus. I know this is the first part in a longer series, but I would really like to see the guy that started this whole thing and that I hear about the whole time. Five EBs in four mishes is too much for me, clearly this is intended for teams, but still 5 very tough AVs in 4 mishes is going to annoy even the best of teams. Custom critters were much more interesting than the 5th Column and they're not in the last mish, that's disappointing.
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HEY! TYVM for the honest rate! I just read over your thoughts of it, and I love the feedback. Thx alot for the compliment on the Warmongers, all my customs were already imagined in my head days before the launch of i14 I was just too excited to create em, and I still have more new customs ideas set for the next arc.
I am sorry that the 5 AV spread out between the arc idea didn't appeal to you... maybe I can scale down my SG guys in the 3rd mish a bit. Its just that they are actual toons created by players of my SG, and I wanted to involve them in the storyline. Unfortunately, I didn't want to bog down the story with too much detail about my SG, which is why I was saving that for the next arc, so I tried to throw something in ( "I have now been informed that Magmus is already in talks with other villains around the world, forming a cabal of his own... he is moving at a very fast pace."). Its kinda tough, but i appreciate that feedback. I am aware of them fleeing, however I am not sure why they do that.... I do have them set at "Boss does not flee for health nor minion def reasons", but I am aware of that and experienced it myself, but I thought maybe it was just buggy for that specific time I tested it.
I also apologize for the customs not being in the last mish as well. My idea was, I didn't want to "play them out" to the players, being that there will be 2 more arcs that will also include them, I didnt want to keep force feeding the customs and add some variety, and tie in an alliance in there to twist things up lol. The reasoning for not adding the main antagonist to the 1st arc was to build anticipation to fight this jerk who ur chasing around, and cant keep up with lol. I was however, planning on trying to fit him in on the 2nd arc with a quick appearance. Dr. Sinistorr was one of 4 "heralds" that you will face along the way and I though it would be cool to add them in as well because the idea of going thru the "chain of command" (so to speak) to get to the top I thought would be nice.
All in all I really hope this didn't turn you off to trying the next part, as I really appreciate your honest feedback, and I think you might enjoy how the story comes along! Again, thank you so much!
Jenkins Guide to Super Villiany 84008
Rating 5 Stars
I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Thugs/Poi on diff 3.
Overall this arc is great. It is humorous and lighthearted and keeps the tempo and the excitement on high. The Contact dialogue is excellent, the funniest I've experience in MA. The missions are fast and simple. The enemies are tough, but not ridiculous.
Mission 1 open some crates, kill a boss, stock CoX mish. Arachnos are always fun to kill.
Mission 2 get a book and kill the boss. CoT are fun to kill.
Mission 3 get the glowie kill some guys. Council are dull to kill, but Presidents are mean.
Mission 4 kill the boss that you wish you had killed three missions earlier.
This arc deserves five stars because it is fun. Contact dialogue is very funny. Missions are simple and straightforward. Enemies are fun to kill. Arc stays focused.
Great job!
Submitted for your approval.
Arc Name: The devs must die!
Arc ID: 113956
Somebody has hijacked a Nemesis plot to overthrow Paragon and the Rogue Isles. And Nemesis is looking for help to take them down. Ask yourself, do you want to help Nemesis or let the mysterious organization known only as "The Devs" take over?
Humorous little arc thrown together on a whim. Uses a combination of standard and custom mobs. Difficulty, moderate. The first boss is durable but not too dangerous. The final EB can be beaten solo but unless you are a scrapper it will likely require insps and possibly pets.
Don't count your weasels before they pop dink!
Death to Disco 84420
Rating 4 Stars
I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Ice/Ice Blaster on diff 3.
Overall this is a solid arc. It is fast and fun to play. Someone has changed the past by kidnapping President Carter and now Disco has never died. I had to fix history, kill the bad guy and make sure disco dies and rock survives, a great idea for a MA arc. Custom critters looked ok, but were fun to kill.
Mission 1 kill a thousand Crey Voltiac Tanks and a boss, rescue Pres Carter. Carter found his own way out (Thanks!).
Mission 2 Kill Dr Disco, click some glowies. Dr Disco threw a safe at me! A safe! A huge solid steel safe! Almost as tall as I am, anyway, he died.
This is one of those fast simple arcs that is so fun sometimes you want to go right back and run it again. It feels good to know you helped rock survive. Give a quick reread to contact dialogue I think "sauer" is called "fever" (or i misunderstood).
Why not five stars? Custom critters were ok, not great. Should disco queen really have better D than Kung Fu fighter ? Contact needs more rock references; "$name its time to 'Fight Fire with Fire'", "$name you've got to go back and save Carter, I'm 'Goin off the rails on a crazy train' here with all this disco", and Dr Disco "$name 'Welcome to the jungle baby, you're gonna die".
Great job!
The Unborn Conspiracy: The Council of Thorns 5381
Rating 2 Stars
I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Thugs/Poi MM on diff 3.
Overall I did not find this arc fun to play. The first two missions are fine, but the third mission gets very tough and the storyline becomes so confusing and complex I actually gave up trying to understand what was happening. Contact dialogue starts off good, but then becomes a jumble of stuff that almost sounds like three different stories. There are some spelling and grammatical mistakes, lead in to mish 2; cooperate is misspelt, disagrees is misspelt and "As you" is typed twice. Custom critters looked great and were fun to kill, but they get forgotten in this disaster.
Mission 1 get the energy blocking device, kill boss. Nice and fun.
Mission 2 rescue Shadowwalker, kill Mendior. Nice and fun. At this point everything makes sense and I even know why the CoT and the council are cooperating.
Mission 3 i read the contact dialogue going in twice, im still not sure what she said. Great beautiful map. EB at end overpowered. Extreme bosses passing out SB to other bosses and an EB is not a fun challenge, its a death trap.
Mission 4 another overpowered EB and some Mulch (which were cool), until each of them alone kills you in a second.
This is a good arc for a large team that doesnt read contact dialogue, who like pounding on tough AVs, on a low diff.
nuff said.
Submitting my arc for review:
Arc Name: Light of the Sun
Arc ID: 89545
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Skydance/Skydance
Difficulty Level: lv46+ recommended, slightly above standard CoH mission difficulty. Adds can be dangerous, final Boss is somewhat hard
Synopsis: Crey is up to something in Crey's Folly, and a young hero was already severly hurt. Janet Kellum is looking for an experienced hero to help her out.
Estimated Time To Play: 5 missions - 30 to 60 minutes, small maps, no defeat all, stealthing possible of some missions
Enemy Groups: Freakshow, Arachnos (very few), Crey + Crey Custom group.
Further Comments:
It is very helpful if the player is familiar with Gordon Stacys 'Revenant Hero Project' storyarc, and Crey in general. A plus if your hero has worked with Janet Kellum before (lv40-45 Crey contact).
The custom group is not overly difficult, especially solo they are not noticeably harder then standard groups. In bigger teams (or solo if more then one spawn is aggroed), some of the debuffs/buffs can stack quickly making them a more serious threat. Problem mobs will need to be identified and given priority.
The final boss is no pushover, but should not be impossible, inspirations may be needed depending on build/AT. She will scale down from Elite Boss to Boss on heroic.
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Death to Disco 84420
Rating 4 Stars
I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Ice/Ice Blaster on diff 3.
Overall this is a solid arc. It is fast and fun to play. Someone has changed the past by kidnapping President Carter and now Disco has never died. I had to fix history, kill the bad guy and make sure disco dies and rock survives, a great idea for a MA arc. Custom critters looked ok, but were fun to kill.
Mission 1 kill a thousand Crey Voltiac Tanks and a boss, rescue Pres Carter. Carter found his own way out (Thanks!).
Mission 2 Kill Dr Disco, click some glowies. Dr Disco threw a safe at me! A safe! A huge solid steel safe! Almost as tall as I am, anyway, he died.
This is one of those fast simple arcs that is so fun sometimes you want to go right back and run it again. It feels good to know you helped rock survive. Give a quick reread to contact dialogue I think "sauer" is called "fever" (or i misunderstood).
Why not five stars? Custom critters were ok, not great. Should disco queen really have better D than Kung Fu fighter ? Contact needs more rock references; "$name its time to 'Fight Fire with Fire'", "$name you've got to go back and save Carter, I'm 'Goin off the rails on a crazy train' here with all this disco", and Dr Disco "$name 'Welcome to the jungle baby, you're gonna die".
Great job!
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Thanks for reviewing my arc! It's great that you enjoyed it so much. To address your points.
Disco Queen is a sonic based Lt. and Kung Foo Fightin is an MA based minion. The power sets are what they are and I did not want to have Diva and Disco Queen as both minions. I also wanted range attacks available to both minion and Lt. groups.
I am in the process of every day or two adding another rock reference. I just don't feel changing such a well received arc too much at once is a smart idea. These are just minor tweaks.
It does kind of annoy me that you only gave me 4 stars when you said "This is one of those fast simple arcs that is so fun sometimes you want to go right back and run it again". Having run easily 200+ arcs I can honestly say that I can count on one hand the number I might go back and play again. If those are not 5 stars, I don't know what is. It does not mean they are beyond improvement, but massaging dialogue is certainly a minor change.
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
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The Unborn Conspiracy: The Council of Thorns 5381
Rating 2 Stars
I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Thugs/Poi MM on diff 3.
Overall I did not find this arc fun to play. The first two missions are fine, but the third mission gets very tough and the storyline becomes so confusing and complex I actually gave up trying to understand what was happening. Contact dialogue starts off good, but then becomes a jumble of stuff that almost sounds like three different stories. There are some spelling and grammatical mistakes, lead in to mish 2; cooperate is misspelt, disagrees is misspelt and "As you" is typed twice. Custom critters looked great and were fun to kill, but they get forgotten in this disaster.
Mission 1 get the energy blocking device, kill boss. Nice and fun.
Mission 2 rescue Shadowwalker, kill Mendior. Nice and fun. At this point everything makes sense and I even know why the CoT and the council are cooperating.
Mission 3 i read the contact dialogue going in twice, im still not sure what she said. Great beautiful map. EB at end overpowered. Extreme bosses passing out SB to other bosses and an EB is not a fun challenge, its a death trap.
Mission 4 another overpowered EB and some Mulch (which were cool), until each of them alone kills you in a second.
This is a good arc for a large team that doesnt read contact dialogue, who like pounding on tough AVs, on a low diff.
nuff said.
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Hmm...
Thanks for the review. I do have some questions though.
#1: "Mission 3 i read the contact dialogue going in twice, im still not sure what she said. Great beautiful map. EB at end overpowered. Extreme bosses passing out SB to other bosses and an EB is not a fun challenge, its a death trap."
Here's the contact dialogue going in to mission 3.
" We've examined the photograph you gave us, but we have some serious concerns. This "Grimmoricum" that the Mage spoke of...it doesn't seem to exist in ANY records. We contacted SERAPH to see if they had any record of it, but none of our resources have turned up anything about what it is or why this Mage would believe it to be so powerful.
We do have an...idea, however, and SERAPH has agreed to help us. Of course, they're as concerned as we are. They've arranged for a guide to meet you. This is where it gets...difficult...$target. The guide will be meeting you in the spiritual plane. This won't be the Underworld, but it won't be heaven, either. It will be the space between. This contact, Gary Owens, exists there, save for moments when he comes to the aid of a Super Group in this world named the Inner Sanctum. He has agreed to help you scour the spiritual plane and see if they have knowledge of this Grimmoricum.
I must warn you, this will be dangerous. ."
My question is, can you help me figure out where you got confused? Since it's a story-driven arc, and so far all of the feedback I'm getting in tells is that people love the storyline, I want to clear any parts that may be confusing up.
The basic concept she's saying is that since neither VAULT nor SERAPH can find any records of anything called the "grimmoricum" they're sending you to the spiritual plane to find answers there. Obviously since the CoT are involved the Grimmoricum would be magic in nature, so the spiritual plane's inhabitants will likely have knowledge of it. If you can show me where you got tripped up I can clarify it for others.
#2:
Mission 3 EB: The EB in this mission is actually supposed to be the toughest in the arc. Its bio and the clues tell you you're actually fighting the living creatures from the book of Revelation (the 4 beings that surround the throne of God.) The warning in red going into the mission saying how dangerous it will be is supposed to clue you in that you may want to take allies. On a team, I've only died fighting this mob once, having run the mission with three different teams (two of which were only 3 man teams.) Should I change the text from "I warn you this will be dangerous" to "I suggest you bring friends?" Would that help?
This is meant to be run like a task force which is what the TF at the end of the title is meant to suggest. It does say " Suggested level: 40-50, Suggest TF style team play. Story driven. Roughly 1 hour." in the description, but maybe I should make the title clearer?
Any feedback on ways to improve it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for reviewing it and helping me refine it. 
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Death to Disco 84420
Rating 4 Stars
I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Ice/Ice Blaster on diff 3.
Overall this is a solid arc. It is fast and fun to play. Someone has changed the past by kidnapping President Carter and now Disco has never died. I had to fix history, kill the bad guy and make sure disco dies and rock survives, a great idea for a MA arc. Custom critters looked ok, but were fun to kill.
Mission 1 kill a thousand Crey Voltiac Tanks and a boss, rescue Pres Carter. Carter found his own way out (Thanks!).
Mission 2 Kill Dr Disco, click some glowies. Dr Disco threw a safe at me! A safe! A huge solid steel safe! Almost as tall as I am, anyway, he died.
This is one of those fast simple arcs that is so fun sometimes you want to go right back and run it again. It feels good to know you helped rock survive. Give a quick reread to contact dialogue I think "sauer" is called "fever" (or i misunderstood).
Why not five stars? Custom critters were ok, not great. Should disco queen really have better D than Kung Fu fighter ? Contact needs more rock references; "$name its time to 'Fight Fire with Fire'", "$name you've got to go back and save Carter, I'm 'Goin off the rails on a crazy train' here with all this disco", and Dr Disco "$name 'Welcome to the jungle baby, you're gonna die".
Great job!
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Thanks for reviewing my arc! It's great that you enjoyed it so much. To address your points.
Disco Queen is a sonic based Lt. and Kung Foo Fightin is an MA based minion. The power sets are what they are and I did not want to have Diva and Disco Queen as both minions. I also wanted range attacks available to both minion and Lt. groups.
I am in the process of every day or two adding another rock reference. I just don't feel changing such a well received arc too much at once is a smart idea. These are just minor tweaks.
It does kind of annoy me that you only gave me 4 stars when you said "This is one of those fast simple arcs that is so fun sometimes you want to go right back and run it again". Having run easily 200+ arcs I can honestly say that I can count on one hand the number I might go back and play again. If those are not 5 stars, I don't know what is. It does not mean they are beyond improvement, but massaging dialogue is certainly a minor change.
WN
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Honestly the types of arcs I would go back and run again are not only five stars. I am more inclined to go back and run short four star arcs than most five star arcs that are considerably longer.
Adding in more rock references would be great, but that alone would not change the rating. Improving the custom critters would definitely make the arc better. Adding in a little dialogue, as to how Dr Disco plans on making sure Rock can never exist at all, would help. Summarily, adding rock references and improving critters and darkening Dr Disco, that's easily a five star.
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The Unborn Conspiracy: The Council of Thorns 5381
Rating 2 Stars
I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Thugs/Poi MM on diff 3.
Overall I did not find this arc fun to play. The first two missions are fine, but the third mission gets very tough and the storyline becomes so confusing and complex I actually gave up trying to understand what was happening. Contact dialogue starts off good, but then becomes a jumble of stuff that almost sounds like three different stories. There are some spelling and grammatical mistakes, lead in to mish 2; cooperate is misspelt, disagrees is misspelt and "As you" is typed twice. Custom critters looked great and were fun to kill, but they get forgotten in this disaster.
Mission 1 get the energy blocking device, kill boss. Nice and fun.
Mission 2 rescue Shadowwalker, kill Mendior. Nice and fun. At this point everything makes sense and I even know why the CoT and the council are cooperating.
Mission 3 i read the contact dialogue going in twice, im still not sure what she said. Great beautiful map. EB at end overpowered. Extreme bosses passing out SB to other bosses and an EB is not a fun challenge, its a death trap.
Mission 4 another overpowered EB and some Mulch (which were cool), until each of them alone kills you in a second.
This is a good arc for a large team that doesnt read contact dialogue, who like pounding on tough AVs, on a low diff.
nuff said.
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Hmm...
Thanks for the review. I do have some questions though.
#1: "Mission 3 i read the contact dialogue going in twice, im still not sure what she said. Great beautiful map. EB at end overpowered. Extreme bosses passing out SB to other bosses and an EB is not a fun challenge, its a death trap."
Here's the contact dialogue going in to mission 3.
" We've examined the photograph you gave us, but we have some serious concerns. This "Grimmoricum" that the Mage spoke of...it doesn't seem to exist in ANY records. We contacted SERAPH to see if they had any record of it, but none of our resources have turned up anything about what it is or why this Mage would believe it to be so powerful.
We do have an...idea, however, and SERAPH has agreed to help us. Of course, they're as concerned as we are. They've arranged for a guide to meet you. This is where it gets...difficult...$target. The guide will be meeting you in the spiritual plane. This won't be the Underworld, but it won't be heaven, either. It will be the space between. This contact, Gary Owens, exists there, save for moments when he comes to the aid of a Super Group in this world named the Inner Sanctum. He has agreed to help you scour the spiritual plane and see if they have knowledge of this Grimmoricum.
I must warn you, this will be dangerous. ."
My question is, can you help me figure out where you got confused? Since it's a story-driven arc, and so far all of the feedback I'm getting in tells is that people love the storyline, I want to clear any parts that may be confusing up.
The basic concept she's saying is that since neither VAULT nor SERAPH can find any records of anything called the "grimmoricum" they're sending you to the spiritual plane to find answers there. Obviously since the CoT are involved the Grimmoricum would be magic in nature, so the spiritual plane's inhabitants will likely have knowledge of it. If you can show me where you got tripped up I can clarify it for others.
#2:
Mission 3 EB: The EB in this mission is actually supposed to be the toughest in the arc. Its bio and the clues tell you you're actually fighting the living creatures from the book of Revelation (the 4 beings that surround the throne of God.) The warning in red going into the mission saying how dangerous it will be is supposed to clue you in that you may want to take allies. On a team, I've only died fighting this mob once, having run the mission with three different teams (two of which were only 3 man teams.) Should I change the text from "I warn you this will be dangerous" to "I suggest you bring friends?" Would that help?
This is meant to be run like a task force which is what the TF at the end of the title is meant to suggest. It does say " Suggested level: 40-50, Suggest TF style team play. Story driven. Roughly 1 hour." in the description, but maybe I should make the title clearer?
Any feedback on ways to improve it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for reviewing it and helping me refine it.
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Hey. As for the contact dialogue, I get it now, after reading it four times. I guess reading the first couple times it just sounded like a jumble of text that didnt actually say much. I would say shorten and simplify it. It is the last paragraph that made my head hurt:
We do have an...idea, however, and SERAPH has agreed to help us. Of course, they're as concerned as we are. They've arranged for a guide to meet you. This is where it gets...difficult...$target. The guide will be meeting you in the spiritual plane. This won't be the Underworld, but it won't be heaven, either. It will be the space between. This contact, Gary Owens, exists there, save for moments when he comes to the aid of a Super Group in this world named the Inner Sanctum. He has agreed to help you scour the spiritual plane and see if they have knowledge of this Grimmoricum.
I certainly do NOT want to tell you how to write your arc. However, consider:
We do have an...idea, however, we've arranged for a guide to meet you. The guide will be meeting you in the spiritual plane, a sort of purgatory. This contact is Gary Owens, he exists there, save for moments when he comes to the aid of a Super Group in this world named the Inner Sanctum. He has agreed to help you scour for knowledge of this Grimmoricum.
It loses some of the personality of the contact, but remember this is a game, not a book. When we write story driven arcs, dialogue cannot be too long, because players will not read it and just click Accept. If you actually want players to read everything, you need to choose, lot of story less personality, or more personality less story.
Regarding the difficulty of mission 3. I understood clearly what the living creatures were before going in, I read the big red letters telling me I would die. I have rated arcs in the past five stars, even though I could not complete/kill the big boss. However, there is a difference between what can be reasonable and what is not reasonable. Do all the living creatures have to be present at that moment? They couldn't be spread out in a way that small teams could pull some away from the others? Or separated in different rooms? It can certainly be done by teams, there are much harder things to overcome, taking out the towers and killing Recluse in the STF is accomplished by teams everyday, but many question if the payoff is worth the work. I felt the same about this mish.
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It loses some of the personality of the contact, but remember this is a game, not a book. When we write story driven arcs, dialogue cannot be too long, because players will not read it and just click Accept. If you actually want players to read everything, you need to choose, lot of story less personality, or more personality less story.
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While that characterization is probably true for most, I'd like to suggest an option that might allow for both routes in the same dialogue.
Leave the longer briefing, but use highlighting for those who just want to skim and line breaks to make it easier on the eyes.
For example:
We do have an...idea, however, and SERAPH has agreed to help us. Of course, they're as concerned as we are. They've arranged for a guide to meet you. This is where it gets...difficult...$target.
The guide will be meeting you in the spiritual plane. This won't be the Underworld, but it won't be heaven, either. It will be the space between. This contact, Gary Owens, exists there, save for moments when he comes to the aid of a Super Group in this world named the Inner Sanctum. He has agreed to help you scour the spiritual plane and see if they have knowledge of this Grimmoricum.
Why Blasters? Empathy Sucks.
So, you want to be Mental?
What the hell? Let's buff defenders.
Tactics are for those who do not have a big enough hammer. Wisdom is knowing how big your hammer is.
I have had others review one of my arcs a little bit. In one of your posts you mentioned you wanted a challanging mission and slows can satisfy that to a degree. I think you may enjoy my arc. It is not excellent by any means, but it was fun for me to create and on your MM it should be fun for you too.
Arc Name: The Environmentalist Encounter
Arc ID:47796
Faction: Villainous
Creator: @squeakersman
Difficulty: enemies use Mez powers! Each mission has an EB and the last one can be difficult for some. I do not recommend this arc on highest difficulty.
Synopsis: The Environmentalists are a group of heroes that have existed in the Rogue Isles for some time. These heroes use mayhem and destruction to fulfill their "heroic" deeds. The Environmentalists love the environment.
Be warned the first mission is a partly defeat all. This just means that you must defeat all of the enemies in the last room (the one with the Boss).
I have run this arc many times with many different characters. I honestly love it!
" I don't let me kids play on the Freedom Server" -Oya
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Honestly the types of arcs I would go back and run again are not only five stars. I am more inclined to go back and run short four star arcs than most five star arcs that are considerably longer.
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It seems lke you are saying that short arcs can't be considered 5 stars or you like replaying arcs you enjoy less than others first?
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Adding in more rock references would be great, but that alone would not change the rating.
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As I said I have been adding additional references and even used your welcome to the jungle idea I liked it so much.
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Improving the custom critters would definitely make the arc better.
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You are the first person to say this. Examples?
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Adding in a little dialogue, as to how Dr Disco plans on making sure Rock can never exist at all, would help.
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It must be a generational thing, but a type of music being dead does not mean "never exist at all". Is Disco dead? yes. Does it still exist and get airplay on some stations and in some clubs? Yes. Also, the Deity of Rock says Rock will fade away, not die. Never does it say anywhere "never exist at all". That is a bad assumption you made.
I did add a clue when you rescue Carter that hints at Fever's backup plan. When you get a chance, please check out what I added. Maybe that will bump it up for you.
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
Thanks for the feedback. I will definitely try rewriting that text to clarify it. I also like the idea of using more highlighting with it.
Mission 3 EB: This used to actually be a chain instead of a group. There are four living creatures in Revelation, and you used to defeat the creature's one at a time, with each kill spawning the next in the chain, a little more difficult. The problem is, it forced people to run back and forth all over the map looking for the EBs.
Do you think limitting it to two creatures, with no surrounding enemies, spawning one after the other would work? Would it even out the risk/reward issue?
I'm a little scared of changing a lot in mission 3 since most of the feedback I get is people loving that map with the elementals and how it fits the feel perfectly, but I also can see how the current arrangement of the bosses would be crazy hard with certain solo archetypes.
ok, I made one change, if anyone is looking at playing my arc.
As of your test, the EB in the third mission, The 1st Living Creature (Living Spirit), was surrounded by the enemy group "living creatures" which was composed of three other bosses archetypes (Living fire, Living Thunder, and Living Creation) The difficulty was set to "hard" and I switched the enemy group's difficulty to "easy." So now it SHOULD spawn a smaller group of luits surrounding him instead of a larger group of bosses. I have a feeling this will take care of the issue, but I'm going to test it when I get back from work this afternoon.
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Honestly the types of arcs I would go back and run again are not only five stars. I am more inclined to go back and run short four star arcs than most five star arcs that are considerably longer.
It seems lke you are saying that short arcs can't be considered 5 stars or you like replaying arcs you enjoy less than others first?
Correct. That is what I am saying. When I run arcs for myself (this would included going back and rerunning arcs i've reviewed) I choose arcs that I like to play. That means 4 or 5 star arcs with subject matter i am interested in. Horror, Comedy, Scifi are my favorite storylines, 3 mishes long is ideal, stories about Rock music, I like fighting CoT, Nemesis, Carnies, i like stories that make me feel evil (for my villians), etc. When I review an arc, I start off with a completely different mindset. When I start an arc for review I wipe the slate clean. I erase all my personal preferences and I assume the arc im about to run will be five stars. So I can run a Council mish that's five mishes and about a new canon gadget and it still can be five stars, but I would never rerun it because I dont care about those things.
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Adding in more rock references would be great, but that alone would not change the rating.
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As I said I have been adding additional references and even used your welcome to the jungle idea I liked it so much.
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Improving the custom critters would definitely make the arc better.
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You are the first person to say this. Examples?
Explore a little, maybe a little more variety in the color of the costumes. Does the disco queen have a king? Is there a disco club bouncer? They were a little bland for my taste, NOT bad, but not WOW either.
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Adding in a little dialogue, as to how Dr Disco plans on making sure Rock can never exist at all, would help.
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It must be a generational thing, but a type of music being dead does not mean "never exist at all". Is Disco dead? yes. Does it still exist and get airplay on some stations and in some clubs? Yes. Also, the Deity of Rock says Rock will fade away, not die. Never does it say anywhere "never exist at all". That is a bad assumption you made.
No, that is exactly what I am saying. Dr Disco is building some type of machine that will sonically disrupt any music with a hard backbeat. Rock will never exist at all. That will make me want to kill him more.
I did add a clue when you rescue Carter that hints at Fever's backup plan. When you get a chance, please check out what I added. Maybe that will bump it up for you.
WN
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ok, I made one change, if anyone is looking at playing my arc.
As of your test, the EB in the third mission, The 1st Living Creature (Living Spirit), was surrounded by the enemy group "living creatures" which was composed of three other bosses archetypes (Living fire, Living Thunder, and Living Creation) The difficulty was set to "hard" and I switched the enemy group's difficulty to "easy." So now it SHOULD spawn a smaller group of luits surrounding him instead of a larger group of bosses. I have a feeling this will take care of the issue, but I'm going to test it when I get back from work this afternoon.
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That sounds like an ideal fix.
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Mission 3 EB: This used to actually be a chain instead of a group. . . . The problem is, it forced people to run back and forth all over the map looking for the EBs.
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Personally I would have preferred that. Of'course you have to do what you feel is best for the masses, not me, but if it had been one EB and three Bosses all in separate rooms I would have found that mish great, because it is a great map.
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Explore a little, maybe a little more variety in the color of the costumes. Does the disco queen have a king? Is there a disco club bouncer? They were a little bland for my taste, NOT bad, but not WOW either.
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Again, I have gotten nothing but praise for the customs. As for is there a Disco King? Yes there is, his name is Dr. Disco Fever. (there is also a Prince). Adding any new characters is impossible, so that to me is not a valuable statement. The system has limits we all have to work within. I would love to add more and actually had to remove one (a busboy) due to space. Additionally, there is a Discotheque Owner, but he is the boss of the group and won't spawn if you play it solo.
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No, that is exactly what I am saying. Dr Disco is building some type of machine that will sonically disrupt any music with a hard backbeat. Rock will never exist at all. That will make me want to kill him more.
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This would be a different story or at the very least a different mission. In any case I have pointed out....98.04% full does not leave room for much. Now, should I hit HoF, I can see a sequel like that. 
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
Hi!
Can you review my arc?
Arc Name: Do Onto Others...
Arc ID:120452
Faction: Villainous
Creator: @Kthu1
Difficulty: 3xEBs; Solowise they were tough for me, but not impossible.
Synopsis: What starts out as a simple mission to defeat a rival group branches into much bigger affairs. Who are these enemies and why do they want you dead??
Thanks so much in advance!
A Tangle in Time 2622
Rating 4 Stars
I ran this arc with a lvl 50 Ice/Ice Blaster on diff 1.
Overall this is a very fun and funny arc about being caught in a time loop. Four of the missions occur on the same map and fortunately it is a small map. There is a slight twist in each mish although honestly four out of the five are very similar. The story is well written and the players thoughts are presented as well. The entire arc is CoT and PPD (there are 2 custom critters) and both are fun to kill. Contact dialogue is humorous at times, easy to follow and brief (three great qualities).
Mission 1 kill some CoT talk to a couple of guys.
Mission 2 stuff happens.
Mission 3 stuff happens in another way.
Mission 4 kill Mobiesa (for the 213th time? or did I die all the other times? yea ok it was probably me. BUT NOT TODAY!)
Mission 5 destroy the timestream so I dont have to see this map again.
This arc is fun. The mishes are quick and straightforward. In mish enemy dialogue is good. I didnt notice any spelling/grammatical mistakes at all. It is polished.
Why not five stars? It does feel like the same mish five times. I want more custom critters (three's a charm!).