Arc Reviews 4: The Resurrection!

Well, not that the other three are dead, but it fits the cheesy movie sequel subtitle theme.

Let's start with the things that I don't like in arcs:
<ul type="square">[*] Kill All missions. There is almost never a real justification for it unless you're using a really small map.[*] On that note, glowie hunts in big outdoor maps got old years ago. Hostage searches on those maps are not fun either.[*] Bad-spelling and grammar. Use a spellcheck, have someone proofread it for you, just try to make it look like you know how to write. I don't expect perfection and am not going to knock off a star for a typo here or there, but if your intro dialog looks like a teenager's cell phone text message I'm going to just quit right there.[*] Arcs where the player is treated as an idiot. If I can figure out the plot three missions before the contact does and yet still get talked down to then there is a problem.[*] Uneven level ranges. I'm not likely going to make a big deal of it if the minimum level is not consistent throughout the arc, but I will if the maximum level keeps changing.[*] AV fights without a disclaimer in the arc description.[*] Custom mobs that overuse annoying powers. If I walk in and see that the room is filled with Storm Summoners then I'm going to turn around and leave.[*] I don't care much for origin story arcs. I have played a few that have a decent story in there that just happens to give backstory on the contact, but I don't want to play just to find out how you got your powers.[*] I hate escorts, period. You better have a good reason for it.[/list]
The things that I like in arcs:
<ul type="square">[*] I like story-driven arcs. That doesn't mean I won't play a challenge arc but it better have some good reasons for me to be playing through it.[*] I do like custom mobs. However because they are so easy to do wrong and can ruin the arc, I will be extra critical when custom mobs are involved.[*] I like having allies when there is a reason for them. I like having them for AV fights, but if the mission just has the same sort of bosses I can solo anytime then I won't bother with them if they have a tendency to get in the way.[*] I love fun. The story can be very absurd and still be logical and fun. I enjoyed "Opera of the Abyss" after all.[/list]
Now with that out of the way, here is how the reviewing will work. Generally I will be choosing arcs on my own to review, always ones with a low number of reviews (generally less than a dozen) that I feel could use some spotlighting. I'm not going to go out of my way to find bad arcs and rip them apart.

On the other hand, if you bring me an arc for review and it's got problems, then it's open season 'cause you asked for it. Here is how that will work.

Post your arc in the following format:
Arc:
Arc ID:
Author:
Number of Missions:
Description:

Then play one of the arcs listed in my signature below. When I receive feedback from you on one of those arcs, and I mean feedback, then your arc will be put up for review. Quid pro quo. Post the feedback over here so as not to clutter up this thread.

If you submitted multiple arcs, then after I review one of your arcs you'll moved off the main queue. You can get back on and get a second, and third arc reviewed by running any of my missions that you hadn't run before and leaving feedback for it.

My rating system generally goes like this: I started at 3 stars and add or subtract from there. 3-stars is radio mission quality in my opinion. 4 stars is above average, while 5 stars is not perfect but means I recommend that everyone play it.

Now if you didn't get a good rating, but made changes to address whatever flaws and problems I found in your arc and want to re-submit it for review, then you can just do so. Keep in mind re-reviews will have a lower priority than arcs that have not been reviewed yet. The re-review will be much shorter, most looking at the changes and fixes rather than a second comprehensive review. Upon review I will update my rating of the arc both in this thread and in the game.

Another thing off the bat, my reviews will have spoilers. It's rather unavoidable so read on at your own risk.

Now let's get started.

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Arc: The All-Seeing Eye
Arc ID: 57352
Author: @Steele Magnolia
Number of Missions: 5
Description: The United States Government has lost control of an intelligence satellite. Who will ultimately gain control of it?
Rating: *****

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Character used: Zetsumei Mitsukai, Level 50 Dual Blades/Dark Armor Scrapper
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 50

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Mission 1:
Sgt. Pandora from FBSA needs me to investigate why The Electric Eye satellite has gone offline. Foul play is suspected and she wants me to investigate the Crey lab where the satellite's encryption systems were developed nine years ago. Well that's not omninous already.

I entered a standard tech lab map and overheard some Crey Tanks talking about "The Countess' Bonus" for keeping heroes out of the lab. Also, they were fighting with Knives of Artemis.

I found the computer console on the second floor and discovered that the satellite codes that Crey held copies of despite having supposed to have deleted them after finishing the job, had indeed been stolen. Upon discovering this I was attacked by some Knives of Artemis, who were shouting about getting the codes for themselves.

Sgt. Pandora was puzzled by the presence of the Knives and presumed they must be working for Malta as usual.

Mission 2:
Suddenly we get a tip that Archon Helsinger of the Council has had past dealing with Crey and may have the codes. They've been mostly weapons deals, but there may be a Council agent planted in Crey. So off we go to arrest Archon Helsinger.

The mission entry blurb informs me that the good Archon is not in good standing with the Council, something about enjoying his work a little too much.

I found a computer console very early on, but this is not over as I have to find Helsinger as well. The files I find have nothing special in them but just ahead I hear some Arachnos troops looking for Helsinger as well, talking about getting the files from him and mention a Fortunata Helkata.

As I get to Archon Helsinger, which did not take long as it was only a medium-sized Council map, I found him surrounded by some Crey Tanks and asking them why they didn't have the codes for him. Turns out that he never had them.

Mission 3:
Now I'm off to see Fortunata Helkata and find out what she knows. Not before long through this Arachnos map I run into Hand of Artemis Sister Evangelyne, who is here for both the files and Helkata's head. The battle banter for this boss fight was rather amusing and completely in character for the Knives of Artemis. I'm then told that Helkata is upstairs with the files and indeed they were.

So it turns out that Helsinger did have the codes but they had been lost from his network when Helkata managed to break in. She had obtained the codes for Lord Recluse but found that they didn't work on The Electric Eye anymore.

Mission 4:
During her interrogation, Sister Evangelyne revealed that the Knives had been trying to obtain the satellite codes for Malta. KoA teams had been attacking Crey, Council, Arachnos, and Nemesis bases. It was also recently learned that a Malta base had been wiped out by the Rikti and that there has been a major increase in their activity over the past 24 hours and that they are now attacking a major Nemesis base in Crey's Folly.

Shortly after getting into the base, I ran into Lt. Tangiers, who admitted that Nemesis now controls the satellite and that neither me nor the Rikti will take it from him. I wish I had his confidence.

Soon I found a Malta Gunslinger named Tango-Alpha-Nine being held hostage by the Rikti. Upon freeing him, he confirmed that Nemesis had the codes but that the Rikti had stolen them. Near the end of the map I came across Rikti Chief Soldier N'Bakt, who let me know that the Rikti have taken control of the satellite. Lovely.

Mission 5:
With this development, Sgt. Pandora informs me that The Electric Eye satellite is capable of monitoring any mode of communication, from anyone, anywhere on Earth. Now the Rikti have control of it and with their cryptographic expertise, well you get the picture.

The Rikti are now using the satellite to attack the control systems of all the War Walls at once and the Rikti are gathering in the War Zone to prepare for a massive attack. Sgt. Pandora informs me that a large counter-assault is going to be moving on the Rikti mothership while I have the task of destroying the control station that the Rikti are using to connect to the satellite.

As I zone into the Warzone, I see that even Malta has joined in to hold back the Rikti and I get lucky in that War Leader Ry'Bat is close to the fort that they are currently attacking. With him down, I still need to find the control station. It doesn't take long to find it on this map and with it destroyed, the Rikti lose their connection to the satellite.

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The Verdict:
I definitely enjoyed this arc myself. The story flowed smoothly and in a logical manner while making good use of the exisiting villain groups in the game. The only custom was Sgt. Pandora, who only appeared as the contact and never inside the arc itself. I presume that she's a cameo, but I have no problem with that.

Since the arc was fun and the story well-written, and no show-stopping bugs, I give it a full 5 stars.

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Here's your first assignment! *Pushes arc across table while grinning ear to ear*

Name: The Descender
ID: 33034
Morality: Villainous. If your not comfortable with world domination, steer clear.
Length: Very Long, around an hour to two hours, depending on team makeup and build.
Difficulty: Moderate. Plenty of AV's, but plenty of help with them. One of the few arcs that is actually easier solo, due to the difference between AV's and EB's. (And it makes a better story solo)
Groups: Coralax, Arachnos, Circle of Thorns, Custom Group (The Virtea)
Mission 1: Unique cave map. Collection , battle, patrol.
Mission 2: Small Oranbega map. Collection , Boss , defensible object.
Mission 3: Unique cave map. AV's (2 of them) , Ally (3 boss class) , Allied patrol, Battle.
Mission 4: Unique outdoor map. AV's (3 of them) , Ally (Elite boss class) , battles (Just shy of a HUNDRED of them!).
Mission 5: Unique Arachnos map. Collection (times five, each one spawns an AV) , AV's (five of them), Four allies (1 EB class, 3 boss class), Allied Patrols.

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Arc: The Stream of Time
Arc ID: #40738
Author: @Silent Spy
Number of Missions: 4 Missions, takes about an hour, maybe more or less.
Description: Anomalies have been detected throughout the stream of time. Travel to various points in history of Paragon City to maintain the flow of time!

Just as a note: There are several EBs/AVs in the arc, but you should have enough allies to take care of it in most missions. However, you may want to bring a teammate if you are not able to solo EBs/AVs very well.

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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

I'd like a review of The Extadine Lab.

Arc: The Extadine Lab
Arc ID: 2595
Author: Vanden
Number of Missions: 1
Description: The Carnies are working on a new drug called Extadine. Get to their lab and shut it down before it hits the streets.

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

Go for it. I'd always appreciate more opinions on "Hunting the Dark Dragon" (ID in my sig, details and (hopefully, eventually) feedback here). If you're willing, please also take a look at my Rikti arc. I say if because it's long and has an escort, so might not be your thing; though it does have a lot of story and a twist at the 'end'.

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

Characters

You fiend! Holding my review hostage until I play your arc! Very well then Lazarus, I shall play your little game!

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It'd be for the best if you post your feedback in my arc thread here. That way you don't run the risk of your tell getting lost. Otherwise you can send a forum PM.

And Quid Pro Quo does mean "Something for something". If you're going to request a review, only fair that I get some feedback to so we can all improve.

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Arc: The Invasion of the Bikini-Clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space!
Arc ID: 61013
Author: @Aliana Blue
Number of Missions: 3
Description: This is my attempt at a humorous arc, with some over-the-top Crazy Awesome stuff and not-so-subtle references to the work of Ed Wood (heck, he IS the contact!). Levels 2-25, and not particularly difficult although it can get a bit hairy in a couple of spots of the second mission.

If comedy's not your thing, then there's this other arc:

Arc: Of Mentors and Legacy
Arc ID: 1589
Author: @Aliana Blue
Number of Missions: 5
Description: A simulation started by your contact is intercepted by an outside force, and it unchains an adventure about time travel and heroism. It's story-heavy, has 2 AVs at the end (and help to go along with them!), and I must mention that it does have an outdoors map with just a couple of objectives (and a few optional ones) but it's just because it was really really fitting. If it really doesn't work I'm willing to change it, but the map's small (the smaller graveyard) and doesn't seem too annoying.

Thanks a lot!

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Players' Choice Awards: Best Dual-Origin Level Range Arc!

It's a new era, the era of the Mission Architect. Can you save the Universe from...

The Invasion of the Bikini-clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space? - Arc ID 61013

I thought "The Resurrection" was just a play on your forum name.

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[ QUOTE ]
I thought "The Resurrection" was just a play on your forum name.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah! I wasn't the only one that thought that!

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Players' Choice Awards: Best Dual-Origin Level Range Arc!

It's a new era, the era of the Mission Architect. Can you save the Universe from...

The Invasion of the Bikini-clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space? - Arc ID 61013

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I thought "The Resurrection" was just a play on your forum name.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah! I wasn't the only one that thought that!

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe...

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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I thought "The Resurrection" was just a play on your forum name.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah! I wasn't the only one that thought that!

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe...

[/ QUOTE ]

(If that wasn't intentional, don't worry. I made a great pun in my story arc that I didn't even realize for THREE DAYS after I'd written it).

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[ QUOTE ]
It'd be for the best if you post your feedback in my arc thread here. That way you don't run the risk of your tell getting lost. Otherwise you can send a forum PM.

And Quid Pro Quo does mean "Something for something". If you're going to request a review, only fair that I get some feedback to so we can all improve.

[/ QUOTE ]

*nods* fair enough. Going to play one right now.

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Since Vanden's request is such a short arc, I decided to make it my next review.

Arc: The Extadine Lab
Arc ID: 2595
Author: Vanden
Number of Missions: 1
Description: The Carnies are working on a new drug called Extadine. Get to their lab and shut it down before it hits the streets.
Rating: *****

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Character used: Zetsumei Mitsukai, Level 50 Dual Blades/Dark Armor Scrapper
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 50

================================

Mission 1:
So I go over and say hello to Gordon Stacy, asking him if the PPD has any work for me. Well, rumor is that a new drug called Extadine is hitting the streets of Paragon City and the Carnies are behind it. A series of chemical shipments lead us to a warehouse and I'm being sent in to destroy the chemical labs, any notes about the drug, and arrest the lead chemist. What, destroy the notes?

So anyway, I enter the warehouse and see the first Extadine lab ahead. I take out the Carnies around it and then smash the lab, accidentally getting a whiff of the fumes and...

I MUST FREE THE VEGGIE FAIRIES FROM THE OPPRESSION OF THE CANDY FAIRIES!!

(Um yeah, suddenly all the objectives have changed and now the warehouse is filled with bright colored candy fairies who are enslaving the veggie fairies. I must rescue 8 Veggie Fairies and defeat King Candycane.)

These Candy Fairies love to share their candy, it's so good that it hurts! And why doesn't these Carnies want to help me? Are they enslaving the Veggie Fairies too? That must be it! Die Carnies!

I wonder what this scary ghost guy is doing here trying to keep a chicken from flying away? Don't have time for him anyway, the Candycane King is right ahead!

Oww, that Chocolate Fairy hits hard!

Finally, King Candycane has been defeated and overthrown! The Veggie Fairies are free! Run free!

Who is this Gordon Stacy guy again anyway?

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The Verdict:
This was a lot of fun. A lot. So far it's the best bait-and-switch tricks I have seen pulled and the designs on the fairies make them hilarious to fight. I'd say they're pretty well balanced as well, comparing how hard they hit me on this toon with how much damage I often take from other foes in the game. Squishies might have some issues with the stuns and sleeps from the electric and energy melee enemies though. I would also consider taking the electric field off of that blue one, that could be a big annoyance for any meeleer without endurance drain resistance. 5-stars from me.



Now don't be thinking that I'll be 5-starring everything here. It just happens that the first two arcs I got were pretty fun and well-designed from my viewpoint.

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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It'd be for the best if you post your feedback in my arc thread here. That way you don't run the risk of your tell getting lost. Otherwise you can send a forum PM.

And Quid Pro Quo does mean "Something for something". If you're going to request a review, only fair that I get some feedback to so we can all improve.

[/ QUOTE ]

*nods* fair enough. Going to play one right now.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sigh, I thought I'd be able to sneak out at lunchtime for a bit of CoH (I haven't done that in... Well, since shortly after release!), but I'm going to be too tied up. Guess the review will come later today, oh well

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Players' Choice Awards: Best Dual-Origin Level Range Arc!

It's a new era, the era of the Mission Architect. Can you save the Universe from...

The Invasion of the Bikini-clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space? - Arc ID 61013

Arc: Meulina Awakens!
Arc ID: 11102
Author: @Neuronia
Number of Missions: 4
Description: My attempt to expand the Coralax lore and mythos...Diviner Maros sends you on several tasks regarding rumors of a resurgent Merulina cult.

Has had both strong positives and negatives, mostly due to the Elite Boss in the last mission.
Hope you enjoy, looking forward to comments either way.

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Questions about the game, either side? /t @Neuronia or @Neuronium, with your queries!
168760: A Death in the Gish. 3 missions, 1-14. Easy to solo.
Infinity Villains
Champion, Pinnacle, Virtue Heroes

I'll throw in here, as I'm in every que so far... arc 1285: Training Day. Feel free to not play this one Lazarus, because you played it before, but I made changes based on your comments and I'd like to hear what you think.

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Arc: Merulina Awakens!
Arc ID: 11102
Author: @Neuronia
Number of Missions: 4
Description: My attempt to expand the Coralax lore and mythos...Diviner Maros sends you on several tasks regarding rumors of a resurgent Merulina cult.
Rating: ***

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Character used: Vikki Vandale, Level 50 War Mace/Willpower Brute
Difficulty: Malicious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 31

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Mission 1:
Nice job on the briefing, you got the feel of Diviner Maros and his non-linear view of time down. So I enter the Arachnos base and smell seaweed, at least I'm told that so it must be special. For all I know all Arachnos bases smell like that. I also see something I'm not fond of in the objectives, Defeat All. Anyway, time to get my smash on.

Pretty soon I run into a Red Coralax named Szylverfyn being held hostage. This must be the ally that Maros told me to expect. I was a bit disappointed that she had no custom description and whether or not she was going to become important enough for that to be a big deal. She tells me that Arachnos wanted to know about their legends.

After cleaning out the base, I suddenly get a clue about finding notes on the goddess Merulina. I don't see what the author decided to tie that to a defeat all rather than a boss fight or a glowy, it would have made much more sense that way.

Mission 2:
Maros is puzzled by my findings and wants me to confirm some of the Coralax legends. A Family ship has been overrun by the Coralax, so I'm to find some clues there and question their leader.

Yeah, it's THE BOAT MAP. The good news is that the only objective is to defeat Zanyasa the Green. Let's try skipping all the way to the end of the map and see if she's there. I did like some of the dialog I overheard along the way from the battles and patrol events.

I ended up skipping past Zanyasa and going back when I saw I had triggered her dialog without noticing her. I returned to the middle of the boat to find a green yet human woman with the name, checking the background explained that she was a type of shaper, like Calystix, and that she had morphed into this shape over time.

The fight with her was easy for me, apparently she was Ice Control/Psi Assault. What bothered me was how she kept referring to me as Human in her battle dialogs. (Vikki is a troll BTW). I think the devs avoid this with the Coralax using "Surface Dweller" as an slur instead. In all this battle didn't really tell me anything, and the clue was pretty useless.

Mission 3:
So I don't know anything but Maros implies that I do when he talks about Merulina planning her return through Calystix and all. He sends me to rescue Barracuda from some base for some reason, only after accepting the mission does he tell me that it is a Longbow base. That briefing needs to be looked at.

I see from the objectives that I have to scramble some system and rescue a hostage. Barracuda should be listed by name, not just as "Hostage". I find 'Cuda and free her, to my disappointment she simply takes off and disappears, I very least she could do was help me out!

So anyway just down the hall is a console to click on, doing so ends the mission and gives me a clue that Barracuda supposedly told me after she had run off. Merulina is coming back, can we bind her to Arachnos, blah blah blah.

Seriously, this third mission was a waste of my time and did nothing to advance the plot that Maros couldn't have said in briefing. Usually the guy doesn't waste your time like this. I'd rethink the third mission entirely myself.

Mission 4:
So Maros now wants me to stop the summoning of Merulina to prevent Arachnos from trying to bind her. Nice thing is I get the warning before I acccept this 90 minute timed mission that I should bring friends. Let's see how it goes for Vikki.

So I have 4 altars to find and destroy and have to defeat Calystix, better get moving. I found the first altar right by the entrance and take care of that, getting a clue saying I found partial notes on the summoning. How I can read them I have no idea.

Many people complain about big maps, but honestly this is one of the few Coralax cave maps there is, so so what?

One odd thing though, why is this map so empty? After the first couple tunnels I didn't run into any Coralax. The next two altars I found were completely undefended. If this is such a big event, then where is everyone?

Finally I get to the Jaws room and see some Coralax, along with Calystix and the last altar, which is guarded by some custom foes called "Virtea". First I go and beat Calystix like a red-headed stepchild and then head over and smash the sacrificial altar, pretty much ignoring the Virtea guys who are hardly scratching me.

Smashing the altar summoned an Aspect of Merulina, who has Storm powers and I didn't see what else. Maybe Cold Domination? Anyway, aside from the annoying slows she hit me with (which were counteracted by Force of Nature) she went down easily enough.


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The Verdict:
Overall I didn't enjoy this one much. Missions 2 and 3 didn't do much individually to advance the plot, especially as in the mission 3 briefing Maros assumes things I didn't actually learn in mission 2. Then mission 3 doesn't tell me much either and has nothing to do with the rest of the story by the end as Arachnos doesn't even show up in the final mission. Now if they had then maybe mission 3 would have had some meaning.

The Virtea who appear in mission 4 are a rather pointless addition as well. They don't add anything to the group nor do they even fit in. If the boss in mission 2 was one as well then I missed it, but I don't see the point of a special group that appears in a single mission just to guard a single destructible object.

This arc needs some spit and polish, along with some possible rewrites. I give it 3-stars and hope that its flaws get addressed because it would be worth at least 4 if not for all the issues I found within.

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Well, I've got three, pick one, though if you played any of 'em in beta the top one is the new one.

[ QUOTE ]

For 10-20 heroes:
Arc: Bricked Electronics
Arc ID: 2180
Author: @GlaziusF
Number of Missions: 5
Description: Mark Freeman finds a ghost in a machine. Follow it through the trash heaps of Skyway City to stop a grievous heist.

For 10-20 heroes:
Arc: Dream Paper
Arc ID: 1874
Author: @GlaziusF
Number of Missions: 5
Description: 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.

For 20-30 villains:
Arc: The Bravuran Jobs
Arc ID: 5073
Author: @GlaziusF
Number of Missions: 5
Description: 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. Sounds like your kind of place. And even better, they're looking for freelancers.


[/ QUOTE ]

So here's your quid. Played "McGuffin Delivery Service". ****.

Plot was great. Second mission especially, with the use of ally bosses in a way I hadn't seen before to create atmosphere.

This suffers from two things. First is Mission 3, fighting Circle of Thorns at their most annoying, with Earth Thorns and Nerva Spectral Lords debuffing defense, accuracy, and attack speed, in the most annoying terrain to fight them. And it doesn't help that some of the glowies ended up right in the middle of a field of crystals. Not impossible to click but dang if I wasn't hairline positioning that.

Second is some overall problems with grammar. A lot of times you build a run-on sentence by using a comma to join what should be separate ideas. The navbar tag for the boss fight in the first mission is an example of this. "You heard a noise. Leave no witnesses." Two ideas, savvy?

More importantly, the contact is you writing a Doogie Howser-type journal looking back at the past. Writing the past is tricky, especially when you write about events that would have been happening in the future of the past. You use, I kid you not, the pluperfect and pluperfect progressive tenses, formed as (have + past participle) and (have + be + present participle) to describe events happening in the past or for a length of time in the past. And then there's the pluperfect subjunctive (will + have + be + present participle) to describe actions happening in the future of the past.

You just kinda throw present and future around in this journal you're writing, and it makes it difficult to distinguish your villain's modern-day commentary on the actions from his description of past events.

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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)

For the third time, post your feedback over here so that this thread does not get cluttered up. I only want the requests, reviews, and your responses to the reviews in this thread. This is the last time I will respond to feedback on my own arcs within this thread.

[ QUOTE ]
This suffers from two things. First is Mission 3, fighting Circle of Thorns at their most annoying, with Earth Thorns and Nerva Spectral Lords debuffing defense, accuracy, and attack speed, in the most annoying terrain to fight them. And it doesn't help that some of the glowies ended up right in the middle of a field of crystals. Not impossible to click but dang if I wasn't hairline positioning that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Never once seen any glowies spawning on a crystal. Also it's not within my control to change what CoT appears unless you expect me to make a custom CoT group and rip out any enemies that can be considered to be mildly annoying.

[ QUOTE ]

Second is some overall problems with grammar. A lot of times you build a run-on sentence by using a comma to join what should be separate ideas. The navbar tag for the boss fight in the first mission is an example of this. "You heard a noise. Leave no witnesses." Two ideas, savvy?

[/ QUOTE ]

Fair enough, that one has been edited.

[ QUOTE ]

More importantly, the contact is you writing a Doogie Howser-type journal looking back at the past. Writing the past is tricky, especially when you write about events that would have been happening in the future of the past. You use, I kid you not, the pluperfect and pluperfect progressive tenses, formed as (have + past participle) and (have + be + present participle) to describe events happening in the past or for a length of time in the past. And then there's the pluperfect subjunctive (will + have + be + present participle) to describe actions happening in the future of the past.

You just kinda throw present and future around in this journal you're writing, and it makes it difficult to distinguish your villain's modern-day commentary on the actions from his description of past events.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't speak English Majorese, so much of that went clear over my head. As for mixing past, present and future, I looked over it again and saw no problems. Unless you bring me some exact examples I can do nothing with it. Don't go posting them here, of course.

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[ QUOTE ]
Arc: The Stream of Time
Arc ID: #40738
Author: @Silent Spy
Number of Missions: 4 Missions, takes about an hour, maybe more or less.
Description: Anomalies have been detected throughout the stream of time. Travel to various points in history of Paragon City to maintain the flow of time!

Just as a note: There are several EBs/AVs in the arc, but you should have enough allies to take care of it in most missions. However, you may want to bring a teammate if you are not able to solo EBs/AVs very well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Posted my review in your other thread. Just requoting since I had posted this before posting my review of your arc.

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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

The order of posting is not the order I will be doing them in. Oftentimes it's going to be a matter of "how much time I have today and how long are each of these". As such, expect only a few reviews each weekday and much more on the weekends.

With that, see you all tomorrow.

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It's time for a bit of time travel, so I fired up...

Arc: The Stream of Time
Arc ID: #40738
Author: @Silent Spy
Number of Missions: 4 Missions, takes about an hour, maybe more or less.
Description: Anomalies have been detected throughout the stream of time. Travel to various points in history of Paragon City to maintain the flow of time!
Rating: **

================================

Character used: Zetsumei Mitsukai, Level 50 Dual Blades/Dark Armor Scrapper
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 50

================================

Mission 1:
Edward Schmidt was born in 1832 and had the power to make wishes come true, so he wished for a time machine. Unfortunately, his trip to 1999 has had some repercussions and he needs help making sure that no alterations are being made to the past by other time travelers.

Having noticed that this first mission is levels 1-54, I'm assuming it will be entirely a custom group.

After recruiting me, I'm sent off to 1864 to investigate an anomaly occuring during the US Civil War. So I arrive in a forested area to see some rather decently constructed Confederate troops and that my objective is to rescue General Grant. Yay!

Wait, why are the Rebels tossing web grenades at me? I hope there is a good reason for that anachronism in the plot, because it is already mighty annoying whenever you run into */Devices critters. Also I think there is another hat in the custom creator that might fit them better. I wonder if those Nemesis rifles are just the closest thing the author could find or another clue.

As I make my way towards the usual hostage point in the back of the map, I notice that nothing much is going on. No battles with the Union or anything. A bit disappointing.

Not finding the General in the back along the river, I check in one of the side tunnels in the forest and find him back there. Another thing I noticed, there is an inordinate number of dual-blade users in this Confederate Army. I didn't need General Grant to tell me that something was unusual.

So now we're off to defeat General Lee, who is now waiting for us just outside the forest. After a rather uneventful fight he went down, only to deliver the line "The South will rise again!" and self-resurrect. Ok, that was definitely funny.

I'm a bit curious as to why Grant is Willpower but Lee is Regen. Lee also had a tendency to stop attacking and start thumping his chest for no apparent reason.

I go back to my own time and Edwin confirms that the Confederates were indeed using Nemesis weapons.

Mission 2:
The next anomaly to pop up is in 2002, during the first days of the Rikti War. Hmm, the mission entry blurb could use work: "Paragon City is a wreck caused by Rikti forces" just doesn't sound right.

I see a huge list of objectives. Rescue: Back Alley Brawler, Statesman, Citadel, Manticore, Numina, Sister Psyche, Synapse, and Positron. Defeat Hro'Dtohz, The Dragon, and 5 Rikti Generals. At least that's what I'm assuming since it only lists the names and not what I am to do with each.


Seems all the heroes are being held captive by Nemesis, who are going unnoticed by the nearby Rikti. First up is Synapse and he doesn't even thank me for freeing him, or anything else for that matter. Neither Positron or Statesman are talkative either, so I'm not expecting much anymore past this point.

Oh wait, Sister Psyche said "Hello?" and Manticore berated me for running off when he was the one who got stock a couple blocks back.

I ran into Hro'Dtohz after getting everyone except for Citadael. He didn't have any dialog at all. I died during the fight and all the heroes finally spoke up that they were lost before I hit Soul Transfer and stunned Hro'Dtohz, whom they all ganged up on and killed quickly. Nice if they had done that before I died.

Oh, I lost Statesman half the map back too. Yeah, funny comment about nerfing me if I run off again, States. This is like herded cats, with the uncertainty of "will they kill everything I come across before I get to attack or will they stand and stare while I do all the work on this spawn?"

I finally find Citadael and notice that I lost Sister Psyche. I can't be bothered to go looking for her so I go to find the rest of the Rikti leaders and try not to fall asleep at the keyboard.

You'd think these Rikti Generals, who are in Heavy Assault Suits, would be easier to find. Anyway, I ran into The Dragon next (isn't he Dra'Gon in the Lady Grey TF?) who had nothing to say to me and proceeded to train the heroes on him.

You know what? Manticore doesn't do a damn thing in any of these fights. Oh, and Positron has sunk up to his knees in a rubble pile and is stuck.

Finally it's over! If you ever wanted to see the signature heroes acting like a bad PuG, then here's the mission for you. As for me, I'm already subtracting stars from the rating.

Mission 3:
It's now time to go to 1932 and participate in Brass Monday. Now I don't know if Brass Monday took place in Steel Canyon, but it does in this mission and once again I see objective overload. Rescue Statesman, Dark Watcher, Maiden Justice, Vambrace, and Elementar. Disabled 10 bombs. Defeat Lord Nemesis.

I didn't know that the Dark Watcher was a Force Fields and Dark Melee. I also didn't know that he thinks using Force Bubble to push enemies away helps me as a Scrapper. He also thinks that putting minions in Detention Field helps me as well.

So after I ditched Dark Watcher I found Statesman. Nice job on his 1930's outfit by the way. Not so nice job on his incredibly large aggro radius. So while States is off soloing the map, I rescued Maiden Justice, who was nearly just as bad. Finally they called down and we all found Vambrace. After that I found the last 2 bombs and came across Elementor. Then I waited for them to finish killing all the nearby mobs so we could move on to Lord Nemesis.

Of course Nemesis turned out not to be at the end of the map so I had to backtrack. This did allow me to ditch the knockback twins, Vambrace and Elementor. In fact, Nemesis was close by where I had ditched Dark Watcher, so having a change of heart I picked him up again before attacking Nemesis.

And by attack I mean kill a few minions while the EB allies do the actual hard work of beating down Nemesis.

And once he was down, I had to defeat Nemesis as well. Yeah, you read that right.

So I went back to the other end, picking Vambrace and Elementor up again and seeing that the present Nemesis is not there. Sorry, but your Nemesis is on a different street. Going back the other way I find him near the beginning of the mission, and the heroes make silly short work of them.

And during neither of these fights did either Nemesis give a speech, or even an arrogant comment. Very disappointing.

Two strikes.

Mission 4:
Now Edwin informs me that the time travel attempts are originating from 2014 and that I have 45 minutes to go there and destroy his time machine. Upon entering I see I have to destroy four generators, rescue a hostage, defeat Nemesis, and what the heck is Edwin Schmidt doing here?

Well Edwin says he was kidnapped to build the time machine for Nemesis a few days ago. He also has no description text. Since he is the hostage I lead him out and he informs me that in his experience this happened years ago. Wait, if it happened years before he met me, then how would he know that I was going to come....HEAD ASPLODE!

So after getting my head back together I return to the task at hand and destroy the remaining three generators.

After that it's time to take down Nemesis, as an EB, alone. First I wiped out all the Colonels around him and retreated down the elevator for a few minutes to wait for the stacked vengeance to wear off. After that taking him out wasn't much of a challenge.

I go back to Edwin and he doesn't remember me rescuing him or being kidnapped by Nemesis, yet. Lovely, another one of those stock time travel twists.

================================

The Verdict:
Oh where do I begin? There is a decent attempt at a good story, but it keeps falling flat and getting bogged down with boring missions. Having multiple EB-level allies is overkill and makes the player feel like a guest character rather than the hero of the arc. The lack of dialog from NPCs and bad dialog when they do speak doesn't help it either. Also, please enforce your level range across the entire arc. Maybe toss a Nemesis trooper into the first mission or something.

Basis: 3 stars
Decent Story Attempt: +1 star
Boring Missions with Annoying Allies: -1 star
Bad/Missing Dialog: -1 star
Total: 2 stars

I hope you get it fixed up, there is something in there that can make for a fun arc. But I never want to play it again in its current state.

---

[ QUOTE ]
Mission 1:
Wait, why are the Rebels tossing web grenades at me? I hope there is a good reason for that anachronism in the plot, because it is already mighty annoying whenever you run into */Devices critters. Also I think there is another hat in the custom creator that might fit them better. I wonder if those Nemesis rifles are just the closest thing the author could find or another clue.

[/ QUOTE ]

At the end of the mission, you receive a clue saying that the weapons the Confederates using are from the future, and after turning in the mission Edwin points out that they are Nemesis weaponry. I couldn't figure out a way to give out this clue earlier. Perhaps a collection item?

[ QUOTE ]
As I make my way towards the usual hostage point in the back of the map, I notice that nothing much is going on. No battles with the Union or anything. A bit disappointing.

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually did make an entire Union army, but for some reason I wasn't able to have any battles set up between the Confederates and the Union. When I went to select it, it wasn't an option to have the two groups fight each other for some reason. I was disappointed in that as well, but moved on. Now I'm not so sure if I have room to put it in (I'm at about 98% full), but if I cut some things out to improve it, I could add the battles in.

[ QUOTE ]
Mission 2:
The next anomaly to pop up is in 2002, during the first days of the Rikti War. Hmm, the mission entry blurb could use work: "Paragon City is a wreck caused by Rikti forces" just doesn't sound right.

[/ QUOTE ]

I see what you mean, thank you for pointing that out.

[ QUOTE ]
I see a huge list of objectives. Rescue: Back Alley Brawler, Statesman, Citadel, Manticore, Numina, Sister Psyche, Synapse, and Positron. Defeat Hro'Dtohz, The Dragon, and 5 Rikti Generals. At least that's what I'm assuming since it only lists the names and not what I am to do with each.

Seems all the heroes are being held captive by Nemesis, who are going unnoticed by the nearby Rikti. First up is Synapse and he doesn't even thank me for freeing him, or anything else for that matter. Neither Positron or Statesman are talkative either, so I'm not expecting much anymore past this point.

Oh wait, Sister Psyche said "Hello?" and Manticore berated me for running off when he was the one who got stock a couple blocks back.

I ran into Hro'Dtohz after getting everyone except for Citadael. He didn't have any dialog at all. I died during the fight and all the heroes finally spoke up that they were lost before I hit Soul Transfer and stunned Hro'Dtohz, whom they all ganged up on and killed quickly. Nice if they had done that before I died.

Oh, I lost Statesman half the map back too. Yeah, funny comment about nerfing me if I run off again, States. This is like herded cats, with the uncertainty of "will they kill everything I come across before I get to attack or will they stand and stare while I do all the work on this spawn?"

I finally find Citadael and notice that I lost Sister Psyche. I can't be bothered to go looking for her so I go to find the rest of the Rikti leaders and try not to fall asleep at the keyboard.

You'd think these Rikti Generals, who are in Heavy Assault Suits, would be easier to find. Anyway, I ran into The Dragon next (isn't he Dra'Gon in the Lady Grey TF?) who had nothing to say to me and proceeded to train the heroes on him.

You know what? Manticore doesn't do a damn thing in any of these fights. Oh, and Positron has sunk up to his knees in a rubble pile and is stuck.

Finally it's over! If you ever wanted to see the signature heroes acting like a bad PuG, then here's the mission for you. As for me, I'm already subtracting stars from the rating.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can change the map to a map where the allies aren't as prone to getting stuck, perhaps? They're all set to Fight Defensive and Follow, so they should be following you wherever you go and not wandering out on your own. They might have gotten stuck if you were flying or jumping around and they were trying to follow you. Also, they should only attack when you are attacking a mob or if they get attacked by a mob.
As for them not fighting after you died and not until after your rezzed, that might be because they are set on Fight Defensive and not something like Aggressive. But if they were set on Aggressive, then they'd likely be aggroing even more. So which do you suggest I do?

[ QUOTE ]
Mission 3:
It's now time to go to 1932 and participate in Brass Monday. Now I don't know if Brass Monday took place in Steel Canyon, but it does in this mission and once again I see objective overload. Rescue Statesman, Dark Watcher, Maiden Justice, Vambrace, and Elementar. Disabled 10 bombs. Defeat Lord Nemesis.

I didn't know that the Dark Watcher was a Force Fields and Dark Melee. I also didn't know that he thinks using Force Bubble to push enemies away helps me as a Scrapper. He also thinks that putting minions in Detention Field helps me as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup, Brass Monday did take place in Steel Canyon.
Dark Watcher's main ability is teleportation but it says somewhere he has some slight ability in Force Fields. To make him as an ally in the arc, I gave him Dark Melee as well since I couldn't just give him Force Fields since he'd need a secondary set (unfortunately, Teleportation isn't available).
The Detention Fields thing is something I plan to fix as soon as possible.

[ QUOTE ]
So after I ditched Dark Watcher I found Statesman. Nice job on his 1930's outfit by the way. Not so nice job on his incredibly large aggro radius. So while States is off soloing the map, I rescued Maiden Justice, who was nearly just as bad. Finally they called down and we all found Vambrace. After that I found the last 2 bombs and came across Elementor. Then I waited for them to finish killing all the nearby mobs so we could move on to Lord Nemesis.

[/ QUOTE ]

He is set to Fight Defensive and Follow, so he shouldn't be running off on his own soloing or aggroing. It might be a glitch or a bug.

[ QUOTE ]
Of course Nemesis turned out not to be at the end of the map so I had to backtrack. This did allow me to ditch the knockback twins, Vambrace and Elementor. In fact, Nemesis was close by where I had ditched Dark Watcher, so having a change of heart I picked him up again before attacking Nemesis.

And by attack I mean kill a few minions while the EB allies do the actual hard work of beating down Nemesis.

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't realize there were so many with knock backs, I'll see what I can do on that.
Should I demote the allies to from AVs/EBs to EBs/bosses or bosses/Lts so their damage is lessened and they don't take care of all the fun work? It'd be a simple change to do.

[ QUOTE ]
And once he was down, I had to defeat Nemesis as well. Yeah, you read that right.

So I went back to the other end, picking Vambrace and Elementor up again and seeing that the present Nemesis is not there. Sorry, but your Nemesis is on a different street. Going back the other way I find him near the beginning of the mission, and the heroes make silly short work of them.

And during neither of these fights did either Nemesis give a speech, or even an arrogant comment. Very disappointing.

Two strikes.

[/ QUOTE ]

He should spawn at the end of the map as he is set to and as he has every time I've tested it. This may also be a bug or something.
And I'll add in dialogue for Nemesis when I get back to work on it.

[ QUOTE ]
Mission 4:
Now Edwin informs me that the time travel attempts are originating from 2014 and that I have 45 minutes to go there and destroy his time machine. Upon entering I see I have to destroy four generators, rescue a hostage, defeat Nemesis, and what the heck is Edwin Schmidt doing here?

Well Edwin says he was kidnapped to build the time machine for Nemesis a few days ago. He also has no description text. Since he is the hostage I lead him out and he informs me that in his experience this happened years ago. Wait, if it happened years before he met me, then how would he know that I was going to come....HEAD ASPLODE!

[/ QUOTE ]

He's contacting you as your contact in the present, 2009. In 2009, he sends you to go to 2014.
When you get back from 2014, you tell him you rescued him in the future.
In 2014, before you time traveled there, he had been kidnapped by the Nemesis. This future version of Edwin still has his memories from 2009, so remembers meeting you then and sending you off and that you returned saying that he had been kidnapped and was rescued by you. So yes, his 2014 version remembers meeting you and for him (2014 version), this all happened years ago.
The 2009-Edwin has not yet experienced being kidnapped, but knows that he will be.

A little complicated, but it should be hopefully all explained by the end.

[ QUOTE ]
So after getting my head back together I return to the task at hand and destroy the remaining three generators.

After that it's time to take down Nemesis, as an EB, alone. First I wiped out all the Colonels around him and retreated down the elevator for a few minutes to wait for the stacked vengeance to wear off. After that taking him out wasn't much of a challenge.

[/ QUOTE ]

Should I add in something to make it a challenge, like more ambushes? I didn't set anything since I figured for solo players to take down an EB without an ally might be difficult as it is, but if its too simple I can add something in.

[ QUOTE ]
I go back to Edwin and he doesn't remember me rescuing him or being kidnapped by Nemesis, yet. Lovely, another one of those stock time travel twists.

================================

The Verdict:
Oh where do I begin? There is a decent attempt at a good story, but it keeps falling flat and getting bogged down with boring missions. Having multiple EB-level allies is overkill and makes the player feel like a guest character rather than the hero of the arc. The lack of dialog from NPCs and bad dialog when they do speak doesn't help it either. Also, please enforce your level range across the entire arc. Maybe toss a Nemesis trooper into the first mission or something.

Basis: 3 stars
Decent Story Attempt: +1 star
Boring Missions with Annoying Allies: -1 star
Bad/Missing Dialog: -1 star
Total: 2 stars

I hope you get it fixed up, there is something in there that can make for a fun arc. But I never want to play it again in its current state.

[/ QUOTE ]

I addressed some of these above, but for TL;DR sake my questions are:
~ Should I make the allies an non-required task, just optional for those who need them?
~ Should I make the allies weaker so that they do less of the work and allow the player to have more fun in the battles and feel more active?
~ What do you recommend setting the ally behaviors as? Fight Defensive &amp; Follow should not cause them to attack unless they are being attacked (and they'll only be attacked if you lead them close enough to a mob). But if you were having troubles with that, what you recommend?
~ Should I change the map in the second mission to a simpler map where the allies are less likely to get stuck?

I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy the arc and found it boring, I truly am. I'm just wondering what you would recommend that I change to fix the errors.

EDIT: I'm really looking to improve this arc, so I really am open to any constructive criticism or helpful advice.

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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