Pro Payne: From 1 to 50 in M.A. (suggest arcs!)
By
airhead,
Posted on: 2009-04-21 21:52 in Mission Architect
It was a bit later than expected (needed more cash to pay those MA access bills), but Pro Payne's back, and ready for more MA fun! With apologies to any still following this thread, Pro Payne was actually on hiatus for just a bit while I was publishing two more lowbie arcs that I wanted him to be able to play before getting too much further in the game.
I did, and the arcs got him to level 11. After finishing Trollbane (see my post below), I'm now level 12, and have replaced all my TO's with DO's. I was very surprised to learn that apparently Resist Damage DO's have totally been left out of the vendor lists. I ended up actually purchasing a Resist Damage IO recipie and making random rolls for Common Arcane Salvage until I could build it.
You might be interested to know in where the character stands, resource-wise, after all of this. Before "the outfitting" I had about 2700 tickets, and 15,000 influence (i.e. a MISERABLE amount for a level 12 character). But after outfitting, Pro Payne still has 1,911 tickets, and 110,000 influence (from selling the salvage he didn't need; his first excursion to WW, by the way) - heck, by the time I log back on, I expect he'll be above 200,000 inf. Frankly, I don't consider that too shabby at all for a character who hasn't even TRIED to spend more than the bare minimum of tickets, and made no actual attempts to play the market. Put another way, I get the distinct impression that I could have a LOT more influence if I wasn't hoarding tickets - and don't forget that hoarding tickets has not in any way kept me from being totally outfitted with DOs. I even suspect that I could have a fairly large proportion of IOs by now, if I'd wanted them. But I'm totally content to go the DO and SO route until I'm high enough level for IOs and sets to give me an advantage over SOs. We'll see where this goes...
Here's another observation I found quite interesting. Apparently, for custom characters powers "unlock" in a manner similar to what happens as a hero or villain PC levels up. At the end of one of my arcs, I faced a character who was very weak on offense, but whom I'd given the *entire* regen set. Yet, the character did not make use of integration, instant healing, moment of glory, or the self-rez (or, as near as I could tell, any other power that wouldn't normally be available to a 10th level character with regen as their secondary). So apparently there IS a de-facto scaling with level in the power level of custom foes given sets above the 'standard' setting. Don't forget, though - you can open up a LOT of powers in those first 12 to 16 levels, so custom foes set to hard or extreme apparently will ramp up in power very, very quickly as they level.
Pro Payne once again needs to go back to the "real world" and chase some villain plots via his police scanner (it's time to get the zero-g pack), but then it'll be back to MA arcs.
So keep the suggestions coming!
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
Oddly, Trollbane fit best in my sequence as the next arc for Pro Payne to play. So...
Trollbane (In its current state, I considered this a very solid 3 stars - very much on the verge of being four, which was consistent with the author mentioning the arc was still a big rough around the edges.)
Arc #106553
Pro Payne was enlisted by the Back Alley Brawler to investigate the circumstances around a gang war between the Skulls and the Trolls. It seemed as though the Trolls were really eager to raid Skull drug labs to get lots of free 'dyne, and the Skulls themselves were up to something far more sinister: they'd given in fully to their necromantic urges, and were dabbling in magics that had best not be dabbled in. What follows is a rising tide of violence as the Skulls train an increasingly powerful army of the restless dead on the Trolls. Why? Because it's easiest to cause the most damage when you betray former allies, especially when the goal is to increase your power by killing as many of said former allies as possible (thereby increasing all of the necromantic power you're channeling). Needless to say, Pro Payne put an end to the Skull plot (in what was easily his most challenging task yet), and earned the esteem of the Back Alley Brawler in the process.
Pros: I'll sum it up in one word: potential. This arc has the potential to become a great story, and a very fun arc. Early on the missions are very short and very simple - some seem almost too short, even. The challenges are *exactly* appropriate to a character at Pro Payne's level (11). TC's a good writer, although a lot of the text does still have that rough draft feel (that's easy enough to fix with a few rounds of proofreading), and that means the story is engaging to follow as you play through the missions...
Cons: ...for the most part. Frankly, there are parts of the story that need to be 'sold' a bit more: the two biggest ones being I wanted to be more 'convinced' that the Skulls really would start a gang war with their biggest customers (or was it the Trolls that started it? Early on it seemed like it was the Trolls picking the fight, but then it seemed more liek the Skulls were the instigators, perceiving the Trolls as easy targets). And I also wanted to know more of the reasons why the Skulls would be so keen on binding the spirits of dead Regulators - I almost wanted there to be a much darker and more sinister reason to bring back dead Regulators than "just because they can" (which is kind of what it seemed like).
The last mission is where the difficulty level seems out of whack - I'll admit that Atta's map is not my favorate, just because it ends up being so *long* to play through (unless you're willing to just run past lots and lots of foes), but some of those EB fights were very difficult - I honestly don't see how being level 14 would make the fights any easier: sure I'd have DO's instead of TO's, but the fact is getting through them required very heavy inspiration use - the bonuses from the inspies were considerably higher than anything my enhancements were providing. For some of those fights, I was using 2-3 reds to max out damage, 3-4 purples to minimize hits, and *still* either losing the fight or just barely pulling out a victory. (The skull EB was the hardest - in part because he actually spawned in with a Bone Daddy partner, which just put him over the top) I really would recommend getting rid of the troll ambushes after the EB fights (assuming I didn't just get really unlucky and have patrols run in to fight me right after defeating each EB) - I was already just barely hanging on after each fight: a troll ambush just added insult to injury.
Another minor 'bug': much of the patrol and rescue dialog was written as though the patrol would say the first thing when you were still far away, and then say the next thing once you got close. In reality, they pretty much spam all of their dialog the moment they spawn in - and even seem to trigger "encounter dialog" in ally or rescue objectives that happen to fall nearby. That led to a LOT of "pull me out of the story moments" where groups halfway across the map were acting like I'd just arrived on the scene to beat the tar out of them.
The bottom line: this story idea's got a LOT of potential, and is already close to a four-star arc, certianly with potential to even become a five. But (as the author warned) it is still a bit rough, and needs some polish to get it really good.
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
[ QUOTE ]
I wanted to be more 'convinced' that the Skulls really would start a gang war with their biggest customers (or was it the Trolls that started it? Early on it seemed like it was the Trolls picking the fight, but then it seemed more like the Skulls were the instigators, perceiving the Trolls as easy targets).
[/ QUOTE ]
Hmm... guess I dropped the ball somewhat on this one- what I meant to be clear was that the ghosts pretty much went after the Trolls on their own, at first- both had a strong hatred of 'dyne dealers, and if they couldn't go after the Skulls, the Trolls would be their biggest targets. And the Trolls, of course, are fairly primal- if they're attacked, they need someone to vent on. So they'd do their best to go after whatever target presented itself.
Also, the Skulls are only in the 'dyne business because it causes mass quantities of death (check their info bar sometime... Skulls are creepy as all hell, far more so than some of the most dangerous enemies in the game). If they think they can butcher the Trolls wholesale, I don't see them hesitating.
[ QUOTE ]
And I also wanted to know more of the reasons why the Skulls would be so keen on binding the spirits of dead Regulators - I almost wanted there to be a much darker and more sinister reason to bring back dead Regulators than "just because they can" (which is kind of what it seemed like).
[/ QUOTE ]
Hrm... narrative failure on my part. The Regulators were a combination of 'hey, we know these guys are tough', 'they have an anger we can use', and 'let's humiliate old enemies'. That and the Skulls just aren't that bright >.>
[ QUOTE ]
I really would recommend getting rid of the troll ambushes after the EB fights (assuming I didn't just get really unlucky and have patrols run in to fight me right after defeating each EB) - I was already just barely hanging on after each fight: a troll ambush just added insult to injury.
[/ QUOTE ]
... wait, EBs? What difficulty were you running on? O.o
I may slip a recommendation in there for dialing rep down a bit on the final mission (thankfully, with Brawler's mode of speech, it's pretty easy to sneak in... something to the effect of "I know you've already got a bit of a rep, newbie, but I'd recommend you dial it down a bit this time- you're going into a war.")- I'm reluctant to lose the EBs, since they're the only thing that would even slow a team down. As bosses, they're not nearly as tough.
The ambushes (and yup, they're ambushes- I had patrols, but they triggered things too early >.<
... yeah. If you're clearing straight through, they're going to do nasty things to you. If not, though, they get tangled up in the Skull spawns and beat them up for you 
But yeh, noted.
[ QUOTE ]
Another minor 'bug': much of the patrol and rescue dialog was written as though the patrol would say the first thing when you were still far away, and then say the next thing once you got close. In reality, they pretty much spam all of their dialog the moment they spawn in - and even seem to trigger "encounter dialog" in ally or rescue objectives that happen to fall nearby. That led to a LOT of "pull me out of the story moments" where groups halfway across the map were acting like I'd just arrived on the scene to beat the tar out of them.
[/ QUOTE ]
That's not a 'bug', that's a flat-out bug; dialogue and battle triggers are iffy at best in the MA, and they'll often misfire like that. Quite frankly, it pisses me off, but there's not much I can do about it (other than skip the triggers outright, but, well...).
As to the rest, I'm going to be testing out various maps for the final mission; but that's (as far as I know, thus the testing) the only Troll map we've got access to in the Mission Architect, and makes for a rather nice epic battle (assuming the triggers work right -_-. Unfortunately, if the triggers misfire (as they do uncomfortably often), it turns it into a horrible boring slog.
Anyhow, thanks very much for the review- you've triggered a few things that I want to pursue now in terms of polishing and rewriting, so I'd say that was a good review
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
Well I have an arc to suggest. It is the 17523, which is heroic and valid from 1-53 (soloable on a rank 1 diff due to its 2 EBs). The custom group mobs are not "easy" but they are totally "not hard" once you get use to them.
Char Site | My DeviantArt
Global=@Thornster
[ QUOTE ]
what I meant to be clear was that the ghosts pretty much went after the Trolls on their own, at first- both had a strong hatred of 'dyne dealers, and if they couldn't go after the Skulls, the Trolls would be their biggest targets. And the Trolls, of course, are fairly primal- if they're attacked, they need someone to vent on. So they'd do their best to go after whatever target presented itself.
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm certainly always willing to admit that perhaps I was just slow on the uptake, but, just FYI, I do think your explanation here does make sense, and would have been useful to 'sell' me on the basic premise of the arc - and I absolutely did not pick up on it while playing the arc.
[ QUOTE ]
The Regulators were a combination of 'hey, we know these guys are tough', 'they have an anger we can use', and 'let's humiliate old enemies'. That and the Skulls just aren't that bright >.>
[/ QUOTE ]
In this case, I did kind of figure that was the reason - this was a clear example that I wanted a bit more of 'what I was suspecting' confirmed by the story.
[ QUOTE ]
... wait, EBs? What difficulty were you running on? O.o
I may slip a recommendation in there for dialing rep down a bit on the final mission (thankfully, with Brawler's mode of speech, it's pretty easy to sneak in... something to the effect of "I know you've already got a bit of a rep, newbie, but I'd recommend you dial it down a bit this time- you're going into a war.")- I'm reluctant to lose the EBs, since they're the only thing that would even slow a team down. As bosses, they're not nearly as tough.
The ambushes (and yup, they're ambushes- I had patrols, but they triggered things too early >.<... yeah. If you're clearing straight through, they're going to do nasty things to you. If not, though, they get tangled up in the Skull spawns and beat them up for you
But yeh, noted.
[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, this is a part where I wasn't being terribly clear in my review. I was running on heroic - they were spawning in as bosses (I just know that they're *really* EBs, which is why I put that in there). They were still cutting me down with surprising speed under heavy inspiration - actually Bone Mason in particular seemed to be able to do this. I'd whole-heartedly agree that putting a warning in BABs text would be very good (in my case it would have been more to mentally prep me going into the mission that I might be facing a boss that'll cut me down two or three times before I manage to win the fight - boy am I happy for the inspiration 'store' next to the data stream.)
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
I'll give another report of Pro Payne's general progress in a few days. For now, it appears that this is going to be the evening of @TheDeepBlue (as his two lowbie hero arcs were slated as next on the play list - and with good reason, as I very nearly hit the maximum level allowed for them).
#61866: A Series of Unfortunate Kidnappings (5 stars)
An orphanage is hit by a rapid series of raids from four villain groups, who steal away several children. Pro Payne joined the effort to rescue the children, and get to the bottom of what appeared to be an unhealthy congruance of villain activity. It quickly became apparent that something very sinister was going on: each villain group had in turn been hit by a 'man in black, weilding a pair of ancient daggers.' While Pro Payne was able to rescue one of the children, the others were spirited off by the man in black (a fact he slowly determined as he hit each villain group in turn, attempted to rescue the child they took). But the failed rescue attempts were not without value: Pro Payne also learned the identity of the man in black (Mr. Pitch) and that he had been using magic to cleverly manipulate the actions of the villains (and, as a 'meta' note: I did find the explanation of exactly how Mr. Pitch managed to pull this off very clever). Mr. Pitch intended to sacrifice the children in a dark ritual, but, luckily for the kids, Pro Payne put a stop to his plans.
Pros: A very well written and engaging story (of which I'm not doing justice to in my summary). Fun, well designed missions. This is another very good low level arc!
Cons: A couple of typos and minor errors. Here are the ones I noticed ...
In Mission 1, Sgt. Ryan's "rescue" text has an error. It reads "...the was guy coming...", but I suspect it should read "...the guy was coming...
In Mission 2, in Rollo's 'inactive' text, I think "arm fine" should be "arm's fine." Also, in this missions 'return success text' I think it should be "drop on all of them" (not "drop of all of them").
Finally, in Mission 3, it seemed like one of the required objectives was missing actual objective text (was showing up as 'Swiveljoint' -- not 'Defeat Swiveljoint' or something similar).
#1402: In the Shadow of the Towers (4 stars)
The PPD wanted Pro Payne to help out with a raid on a Skulls' warehouse. He readily agreed, and found evidence the Skulls were planning on using some serious explosives to break into a building. What made this particularly intriguing was the fact the building didn't actually have any (real) windows or doors - the Skulls reasoned there must be something really cool inside.
What was inside was the Arachnos - and they'd become convinced Pro Payne had command codes they 'wanted back' - he didn't, but when have you ever known Arachnos to listen to reason? Pro Payne had to fight off multiple attempts by Arachnos to ambush and kill him in their attempt to get the codes back. Fortunately, for all involved, it did ultimately become apparent to Arachnos that Pro Payne didn't have what they thought he did.
Pros: While the writing and mission design itself is the very high quality I've come to appreciate from this author... (and I certainly did like the Chief Bochco reference)
Cons: ...the overall plot just struck me as a bit lackluster this time. While it wasn't bad, it didn't seem to be quite as focused - or have the closure - the others did. You never do get to figure out why Arachnos thinks you have the codes (beyond the implication that they're just flat out mistaken, which, while oddly humorous, did strike me as a 'poor sell' of a central point in the plot), or what actually in is the towers. (I actually thought there's some real potential there - I really wanted that very short 'find out what went wrong with the skull attack' mission to be combined with the next sewer mission, so we could have a mission to infiltrate the tower and see what's there.)
Yes, yes, I do see the irony of me falling into the exact same trap the Skulls did. But I'm more important than they are, so it's okay if I do it 
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
At long last, it was time for Pro Payne to go up against the bikini-clad samurai vampiresses (from outer space).
#61013: Attack of the Bikini-Clad Samuri Vampiresses (from outer space) (5 stars)
It began with Ed Wood sending Pro Payne into a warehouse inhabited by mutants, seeking to detonate one of the most terrible weapons imaginable - the dreaded M-bomb. But things were not what they seemed. Evidently, Pro Payne had just been placed in the lead role in a movie - much to the surprise of the other actors in the movie, who weren't quite ready for his arrival on set. Still, being a lead in a movie was certainly entertaining enough, and Pro Payne was more than happy to play along.
Of course, the M-bomb went off. Pro Payne was fine, but everyone else was in danger of becoming atomic superzombies, and Pro Payne had to stop them, and their mastermind, the evil Dr. Goesoff, who was the brilliant mind behind the atomic superscience. In stopping Dr. Goesoff, Pro Payne learned that the evil doctor had the full support of the bikini-clad samurai vampiresses, who hoped to use his atomic superscience to conquer the universe. They had to be stopped.
Only ... (duh duh DUH) ... it was (perhaps) not a movie after all. See, the evil bikini-clad samuri vampiresses were REAL, but the only way Mr. Wood could warn the world was to make movies about them! His movies had already lead to nine plans of the bikini vampiresses being thwarted, but he needed my help to thwart plan 10. So Pro Payne heroically went in, intent on ensuring humanity (and the rest of the universe) wouldn't have to bow as slaves before the bikini-clad samurai vampiresses.
Still, would it really have been so bad?
Pros: Great humor - the descriptions for the foes were wonderful. Also, I wanted to offer props to the author - the easiest mistake to make in a humor arc is to sacrifice gameplay for the sake of the humor. That was not done here - the missions themselves were well-paced and fun to play!
Cons: Bikini-clad samurai vampiresses? How can there even be cons there? In all seriousness, the humor in this arc does loose some of its punch if you don't know who Ed Wood is. But that's not really the author's fault as much as it is a grevious gap in your education.
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
Pro Payne's now up to level 15. One last review for the night (and possibly until Monday, as was true last week). I'm currently weighing a decision as to whether or not it is time to just post MA play experiences and go fully into "mini-review" mode - the issue being that I'm actually spending longer on the reviews than it takes to play the missions.
#84105 Duality (3 stars, on the weak side of 3)
The Paragon Police needed Pro Paynes assistance with some disappearances. Some students at Paragon U had gone missing, and the police were willing to take all the help heroes were willing to offer in trying to find these missing persons, safe and sound. Pro Payne was assigned to search the engineering building. Inside, he found some very odd killers identical, skull-faced men wielding a variety of slashing instruments. He also found one of the students within, but it was too late: the student had been murdered.
The detective in charge of the investigation (Rogers) also found a body in the building he searched, and made an important connection: the victim he found was twins with the one I found. And it was another hero searching a third building that gave us our next course of action. The missing person she was sent to find was still alive, and reported that he had a brother in the Outcasts, who was attending a rave the Outcasts like to keep running 24/7 across campus.
Pro Payne header over to the party, only to find more members of what was turning out to be a veritable army of murdering, blade-wielding psychopaths in conflict with the Outcasts. Taking advantage of the distraction, Pro Payne found the brother, and escorted him safely out of the party.
Rogers than sent Pro Payne an abandoned warehouse (actually an office building) to recover some files that might shed light on who the killer was. The office was in the Hollows, so the involvement of the trolls wasnt a surprise; the presence of the Vahzilok, however, was. Pro Payne did find a file, thought, that seemed to shed light on the situation it talked about a killer named Double Edge, who died in the Zig a short time ago. Double Edge had a brother, and Rogers suspected he was continuing in his brothers dark footsteps perhaps in revenge for his brothers death.
But that turned out not to be the case. Double Edges brother had been abducted by the Vahzilok, and once he was rescued, told Pro Payne the full story: Double Edge had had run-ins with the law his whole life, but had always been protective of his brother, who had become a successful doctor. Unfortunately, the brother had gotten mixed up with the Vahzilok, who were demanding ever increasing deliveries of body parts. To protect his sibling, Double Edge did the dirty work killing innocent people and delivering the parts to the Vahzilok. That arrangement lasted until Double Edge was caught, and locked away in the Zig. There he slowly picked up the power to replicate himself, and had gone utterly insane. Sacrificing one clone to appear as though hed died in the Zig, the rest of this army of Double Edges resumed their murderous work only this time with no purpose other than the misguided notion that his brother wanted him to kill people (twins, especially). Pro Payne had to put a stop to it, and Rogers had a lead. The Vahzilok appeared to be getting into conflicts with Skulls that were holed up in a hospital only they werent Skulls, they were actually more Double Edge clones. Rogers and Pro Payne believed the real Double Edge was there.
He was, and Pro Payne defeated him (in addition to rescuing a pair of twin girls who were about to become his next victims), and returned him to the Zig. A pair of nullifier bracelets will (hopefully) prevent Double Edge from continuing to use his powers, and keep him from escaping again.
Pros: The story had an interesting premise.
Cons: Several things. There were a fair number of typos, and the pacing of the missions was schizophrenic (no pun intended): the early ones were remarkably short, but the later ones were longer than they needed to be (in part due to the need to escort rescuees back through rather long maps). The story could have been tighter there were definitely a couple of well, that kinda makes sense, I guess moments in the story, along with premises that struck me as odd (like the suggestion that prisoners in the Zig often pick up superpowers for no apparent reason). Oddly the custom villain group actually lent itself to a rather odd Catch-22. I certainly understand that the whole point is theyre clones of each other, but having large numbers of identical things armed only with differing weapons seemed a bit repetitious. I wish there was some way to add a bit more variety to the custom foes, without hurting the premise that theyre copies of each other
EDIT: Oh! One other totally random thing that I almost forgot ... count the decision to give some of the madmen the fireman's axe as a "Pro" - boy was there something creepy about a leering skull-face wild-haired leather clad psycho carrying a bright red axe.
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
[ QUOTE ]
Pro Payne's now up to level 15. One last review for the night (and possibly until Monday, as was true last week). I'm currently weighing a decision as to whether or not it is time to just post MA play experiences and go fully into "mini-review" mode - the issue being that I'm actually spending longer on the reviews than it takes to play the missions.
#84105 Duality (3 stars, on the weak side of 3)
The Paragon Police needed Pro Paynes assistance with some disappearances. Some students at Paragon U had gone missing, and the police were willing to take all the help heroes were willing to offer in trying to find these missing persons, safe and sound. Pro Payne was assigned to search the engineering building. Inside, he found some very odd killers identical, skull-faced men wielding a variety of slashing instruments. He also found one of the students within, but it was too late: the student had been murdered.
The detective in charge of the investigation (Rogers) also found a body in the building he searched, and made an important connection: the victim he found was twins with the one I found. And it was another hero searching a third building that gave us our next course of action. The missing person she was sent to find was still alive, and reported that he had a brother in the Outcasts, who was attending a rave the Outcasts like to keep running 24/7 across campus.
Pro Payne header over to the party, only to find more members of what was turning out to be a veritable army of murdering, blade-wielding psychopaths in conflict with the Outcasts. Taking advantage of the distraction, Pro Payne found the brother, and escorted him safely out of the party.
Rogers than sent Pro Payne an abandoned warehouse (actually an office building) to recover some files that might shed light on who the killer was. The office was in the Hollows, so the involvement of the trolls wasnt a surprise; the presence of the Vahzilok, however, was. Pro Payne did find a file, thought, that seemed to shed light on the situation it talked about a killer named Double Edge, who died in the Zig a short time ago. Double Edge had a brother, and Rogers suspected he was continuing in his brothers dark footsteps perhaps in revenge for his brothers death.
But that turned out not to be the case. Double Edges brother had been abducted by the Vahzilok, and once he was rescued, told Pro Payne the full story: Double Edge had had run-ins with the law his whole life, but had always been protective of his brother, who had become a successful doctor. Unfortunately, the brother had gotten mixed up with the Vahzilok, who were demanding ever increasing deliveries of body parts. To protect his sibling, Double Edge did the dirty work killing innocent people and delivering the parts to the Vahzilok. That arrangement lasted until Double Edge was caught, and locked away in the Zig. There he slowly picked up the power to replicate himself, and had gone utterly insane. Sacrificing one clone to appear as though hed died in the Zig, the rest of this army of Double Edges resumed their murderous work only this time with no purpose other than the misguided notion that his brother wanted him to kill people (twins, especially). Pro Payne had to put a stop to it, and Rogers had a lead. The Vahzilok appeared to be getting into conflicts with Skulls that were holed up in a hospital only they werent Skulls, they were actually more Double Edge clones. Rogers and Pro Payne believed the real Double Edge was there.
He was, and Pro Payne defeated him (in addition to rescuing a pair of twin girls who were about to become his next victims), and returned him to the Zig. A pair of nullifier bracelets will (hopefully) prevent Double Edge from continuing to use his powers, and keep him from escaping again.
Pros: The story had an interesting premise.
Cons: Several things. There were a fair number of typos, and the pacing of the missions was schizophrenic (no pun intended): the early ones were remarkably short, but the later ones were longer than they needed to be (in part due to the need to escort rescuees back through rather long maps). The story could have been tighter there were definitely a couple of well, that kinda makes sense, I guess moments in the story, along with premises that struck me as odd (like the suggestion that prisoners in the Zig often pick up superpowers for no apparent reason). Oddly the custom villain group actually lent itself to a rather odd Catch-22. I certainly understand that the whole point is theyre clones of each other, but having large numbers of identical things armed only with differing weapons seemed a bit repetitious. I wish there was some way to add a bit more variety to the custom foes, without hurting the premise that theyre copies of each other
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the review. Unfortunately, my video card's gone bad and I have to get a new one, so I can't log into the game for now, but I'll try to look at the proofreading again once I can, though I'd thought most of the typos had been squashed.
Due to an upsetting in-game incident, my reviews are going to be significantly curtailed - they'll still be available, but only under limited circumstances. I will explain in a post below.
Okay, Pro Payne is about midway through level 16, and still going strong. His latest adventures:
#1004: Welcome to Architect Entertainment. (3 stars; would have been 4 except for difficulty)
I'll keep this one fairly short, since I know it can't be edited, and any flaws in it are arguably no longer the author's fault.
FINALLY, Pro Payne's dedication to A.E. has been noticed, for Dr. Aeon himself took notice and offered to give him a personal tour/demo of the (virtual) facilities. Almost immediately, it was clear something was wrong: the 5th Column simulation had become partially corrupted with virus files - and, as a subsequent mission made clear - the viral code was spreading. Soon the virus would essentially hijack the entire system. It had to be stopped. Guess who rose to the task? Yep. Pro Payne. Guess to took all the credit. Yep. Dr. Aeon (well, not really, but I imagine he would...)
Pros: Cool idea, and the writing for Dr. Aeon seemed spot-on. The "virus-corrupted" 5th column were well done - they actually DID somehow seem to capture the profile of a 5th column soldier.
Cons: Not too terribly much in the way of a story (although what was there was tight and well presented). The biggest con, though, was difficulty. Obviously, this isn't so much feedback to the author (who can't do anything about it) as sort of a 'learning experience' to watch out for when making your own arcs: some power combos can be really vicious, especially to a lowbie.
In the case of the viruses (which are a good example of giving the elements of a custom group powers that work together a little TOO well), the minions and leutinents possesed combinations of force field, electric, and radiation powers. In practice, that meant the could seriously debuff my defense, so that every single end-draining electricity attack could hit me effortlessly, and what few attacks I could get off (when I was upright - thank you very much freakin' force bolts) were unlikely to hit (force fields + to-hit debuff from radiation). And that was for the approx six seconds I still had endurance.
It *didn't* make the mission undoable - but it was one of the rare times I gave up on fighting foes and just ran through the mission trying to find objectives - fighting only what was absolutely necessary.
(BTW, there is an AV at the end, but the author kindly warns you in big red letters in the briefing to be prepared - I didn't actually grade down on the AV per se).
I did rate and play one more arc, but my review would be a bit on the harsh side (In my opinion, there were some significant problems with the story - and some minor ones with the writing, although the writing itself was not a deal-breaker). If the author would like me to post a review, I will, but, given the circumstances, I'm reluctant.
I'll explain more below, along with changes in how I'll be doing this project.
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
Changes in how I'll be doing reviews:
In short, I won't be, unless you specifically request one be posted here, and I trust you to be fair and honest. While I will continute to play and rate arcs - in general I won't be giving feedback here or in game any more. I'm still accepting arcs to play (and welcome them), and queing them up to be in an order that will work well with Pro Payne's current level, but the basic thing I'll be be doing is giving them a play (to add to your talley) and an honest rating - for many I'm not comfortable giving them in-game feedback or a review. Here's why:
Pretty shortly before starting this arc, I got a tell from someone thanking me for posting one of my arcs and letting me know it had been given five stars. The player listed several arcs of their own and suggested I return the favor. I'm not interested in trading ratings (and I doubt the player even played through the arc - the only one that got an added rating was the second one in the trilogy, which really wouldn't have made much sense without playing the first one).
A bit later, I start this project (keep in mind my forum name is very different from my global, so the person who solicited a rating trade from me probably didn't realize I was one of the people that they'd asked for a 'rating trade' from when I posted here). I get a large number of people suggesting arcs, which I've been playing and rating.
I won't divulge exactly when this occured, or the details, but I played and rated this person's arc - along with the usual feedback (the global was very familiar, but at the time I didn't think to check my notes to see if this was a global I should be wary of). A very short time later, I get a message my arcs have been rated. I check them, and all three arcs now have rating reductions that make it clear each has been given a 1 or 0-star rating. But only the first and the third in the trilogy has the number of ratings go up, the second had the number of ratings stay the same - just the star value went down, telling me whomever did this had already rated the second arc some time ago. Since only three people have ever played the second arc, and I know two of them, it wasn't hard to figure out who did it, and exactly what happened - checking my records just confirmed it.
Anyway, I honestly think what happened is the player was not happy with my rating and feedback, did a quick search on my global to find my arcs, saw they'd given it 5-stars hoping for a rating trade, and 1 or 0 starred all three of my arcs in retaliation - probably not recognizing my global (since, as I said, it's very different from my forum name), and never realizing that I wasn't playing in the arc in response to the request for a rating trade, but rather I was playing it in response to a forum request.
Now before you all get worried that "I think it's you" - don't. That's the reason I told you all what happened. If you've never sent me a request to trade 5-star ratings, it's not you, and I'm aware it's not you, so don't be worried.
But let's face it, the reviews are hard work, and very time consuming, and having someone retaliate like this leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. So I'm going to change how I'm doing this.
Again, I've written down every single arc mentioned in this thread (typically I do it the moment you mention it). Just by mentioning it here, you've got at least one more person who will play and rate it, and it will be an honest rating (for the record, I did not in any way change the rating I gave the person who did this to me, and I have no plans to) - but I won't be giving feedback on it.
I will still post reviews however, but only if you request it from me, and only if I trust you.
Obviously, one (but not the only) way to make me think I can trust you is if you play and rate one or more of my arcs - give me an honest rating and feedback (And yes, "I played it, but I just didn't like it - the story was dumb and I got really bored, 1 star" is honest feedback - it's not constructive or helpful, but it's honest), and I'll return the favor, if you request it, when I get to your arc. But I want to make it clear that that's not the only way.
If other people have reviewed your arc on the forums, I'll look at how you responded to their feedback (if you want to linky it for me, that's helpful, but I can probably find your response on my own); if you were honest and level-headed about it, that's good enough for me - I'll give you feedback if you request it.
And, let's face it, sometimes fame helps. I've lurked here for years - and there are a select few people who have impressed me with their ability to be fair and level-headed. If you're one of those rare few, I'll give you feedback if you request it. (Helpful tip: if you're on my ignore list, you probably don't fall into this category )
Okay folks! Keep them coming! I will, of course, continue to update this thread with Pro Payne's continuing adventures. There's a lot in his queue, but it's still going to take a long time to get all the way to 50 in MA!
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
Well I am sorry to hear that .. but I wouldn't mind feedback on mine when you do play it. If you are comfortable with that naturally.
Char Site | My DeviantArt
Global=@Thornster
I'll be happy to give yours a review - I've flagged it as such. Just FYI, it's about three missions down in my queue. Just like last weekend, I probably won't be on Pro Payne during the weekend, but I'm sure I'll get to your arc by very early next week.
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
Hunter of Beasts: It starts with a riot...
suggested levels 5-15
Arc ID: 110465
Thrythlind's Deviant Art Page
"Notice at the end, there: Arcanaville did the math and KICKED IT INTO EXISTENCE." - Ironik on the power of Arcanaville's math
This one may end up getting played by a much higher level character - Pro Payne is at 16 right now, and I want to keep him moving forward (but I'll check out and see if 15 is a hard limit or if it will scale up to a higher level).
But I did just put it in my queue of missions to be played!
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
Certainly a busy week in RL (and next week will be too), but Ive found time to play Pro Payne off and on, and he is slowly moving up the ranks in his quest to reach level 50 through (legitimate) MA arcs.
And what an adventure its been so far! Pro Payne apparently has fans and was invited to speak at a convention (which turned out to be a lot more trouble than it was worth hes vowing to stay away from hero-cons now). He stopped a bunch of spoiled rich kids from trying to tear up the city with their new toys, and then tracked down and captured a deranged killer who believed himself to be a vampire hunter (much to the chagrin of the innocent people he was staking).
So far, as Ive mentioned before, playing a character solely in MA (using legit missions no farms) is proving to be an extremely viable way to play the game. One of the things I was expecting to happen was for the game to have a much more disjointed feel in a sense, Im not really interacting with the city, Im just popping into one mission after another. But, honestly, that hasnt been the case. Its hard to describe, but the game feels normal especially when authors use the stock villains in their arcs and do a good job of writing for them (which, by and large, has been happening). And most of the missions that use custom mobs have at least had elements of the standard ones in the arcs too. Im really gaining an appreciation for how much using standard mobs helps connect custom mobs to the game-world. Oddly, the most disjointed feeling arcs are the ones that have nothing but the custom mobs theyre the ones that feel most removed from the game.
Enhancements havent been a problem at all. It has been effortless keeping them up to date, and Ive never even come close to running out of tickets. What is fairly stunning is the investment difference between the standard enhancements (TOs and DOs at this point and the IOs). A DO costs only 35 tickets at the moment, totally replacing out my characters DOs (which I did at level 17) cost about 700 tickets (which is nothing considering that I had over 3,000), but each common IO I opt to make frequently runs me between 300-400 tickets at least when you factor in the start up cost associated with making random rolls for the correct common salvage to make them. Ive been surprised on more than one occasion that in order to get enough salvage at random to make the IO whose recipe I just bought, Ive actually had to make 30-40 rolls (in the process totally filling up my capacity to carry the stuff). And it shouldnt have been a surprise, when I consider how often in the real game that I had a full salvage inventory, but just happened to not have what I needed to make a particular common recipie. Still, its worth pointing out that the most expensive IO to make is always that first one. If your intention is to make more than one, you do get the benefit of all of that spare salvage you collected trying to get the ingredients for that first one.
Pro Payne, you fool! Why not just buy the salvage on the market (you might ask)? The answer relates to the most notable disadvantage of an all MA character. Pro Payne is probably the poorest level 18 character Ive had in a long time. Granted, at the moment hes got nearly a million influence, but that was a relatively recent development (gained mostly from selling off all that that spare salvage that wasnt going to be used). So while buying from the market would be valid now, it wasnt a few levels ago, when all he had was about 50,000 influence.
But I have not once really noticed or felt the pinch of lack of funds the fact that tickets can get you almost everything influence once did (and more) means you hardly notice that youre poor. And yes, Im well aware of the fact I could probably be strategically buying up certain salvage and sell it on the market for a major influx of cash but my point is I dont NEED the cash. Im totally content to hoard my tickets and use them to get what I need.
Of course, this project has highlighted two things that Id consider my biggest gripes about MA at the moment:
1. The souvenirs: I dont like that theyre account wide surely theres a way to put tags in the data file on the clients computer telling it who the souvenir belongs to. And why is it limited to 15? Ive played more arcs than that just getting to level 18. And I really, really wish theyd stop vanishing on me. Yes, I know what causes that, but it doesnt keep it from being annoying.
2. Why oh why do the vendors not sell resist damage DOs? Thats the reason Ive been having to get IOs
(well, not having to get
I could have just kept using TOs, but I didnt wanna, okay?)
So, heres how Pro Payne stands right now, just as a reference point.
Hes level 18.
Since starting, hes earned a total of 6,743 tickets. He has 2,952 of them left (and over 1,000 were spent getting him those four IOs).
Hes got 34 MA badges so far:
4 of the 5 ticket badges.
3 of the 5 glowie badges.
3 of the 5 inspiration badges.
The badge for playing 10 hero arcs.
All 5 of the rescue badges.
3 of the 5 destroy objects badges.
2 of the 5 defeat custom foe badges.
All 5 of the complete optional objective badges.
Hes played 17 story arcs total since beginning.
Hes defeated 390 custom foes.
Filled up his salvage inventory twice trying to get the correct salvage for four IOs.
And selling the spoils of that has him standing at 987,044 influence.
Its been fun getting him there. And hes clearly still got a long way to go.
And speaking of long way to go
Pro Payne has now cleared every lowbie arc in his play queue. There are still at least 8 MA arcs on his play list (and Im going to check out #1874 and #84420 pretty soon to see if theyre doable at level 18) but theyre mostly for levels 25 and up. In general, Im not going to auto-sk up past 22 because stuff at that level and higher is balanced for SOs, which I dont have yet, so what I really need are more arcs suggestions to get me through the next four levels, up to 22.
Any more suggestions folks?
Theres more. I do have one review to post (thatll be up shortly), and a reminder: dont forget that if youve posted your arc, and you actually want feedback on it, you need to specifically ask me for feedback (and, no offense, but I have to trust you to be willing to give it to you).
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
Arc 17523 A little RnR (3 stars)
A new group of hooligans has come to town to party but their idea of a good time could easily lead to a lot of collateral damage. Fortunately, Pro Payne was on the case, and managed to stop their rampage by putting their leader in prison (for now hes rich, so hell probably get his lawyers to spring him soon enough).
Pros: Really neat design to the custom group that dominates the arc. I loved the names. The custom foes are really the highlight of the arc, so its very good that they have such an interesting look and design.
Cons: Honestly, I felt like I was playing the outline of a story arc where the story just hasnt been fleshed out yet. I certainly got that Im trying to figure out who this new group is, and put a stop to them, but that practically was the extent of the story. Thats really the biggest con youve got three scenarios featuring an interesting custom group, and now you just need more of a story to tie them together. Let me try to offer some specific suggestions:
1. I wasnt really sure who exactly the contact is sending me on these missions, which makes it a tad hard to understand why hes the one investigating this new group, and why hes sending me on these missions in the first place. You might want to add some text having him introduce himself.
2. Such a neat set of custom mobs absolutely needs character descriptions you can add a lot to the story just by dropping hints about who these guys are in their bios (or comments about how advanced their technology is, etc.) And I really did find myself wanting to know why they had their names Ive love some info in the bios as to exactly why theyre called what theyre called.
3. As much as I liked the custom mobs, they did seem a bit over the top, at least for a lowbie: a wide variety of damage types, multiple debuffers, etc. I had a particular hate-on for the sonic ones by the end: I spent many a fight with a -50% damage resistance debuff thanks to those guys, which is pretty difficult to handle since fire is a resistance based set. You might want to tone them down a bit or perhaps warn players in the description to hold off trying the arc until theyre level 22, or something to that effect.
4. Their difficulty made the ambushes almost maddening. What I found is that I could barely handle one spawn of them so any ambushes or anything that added more than a standard spawn would typically finish me off. Of course, being higher level or having SOs might help, but if youre interested in making the arc more lowbie friendly, I would suggest toning down the mobs and perhaps either toning down or eliminating some of the ambushes.
5. Give more the mission objectives actual descriptive text adds that nice extra level of polish to the arc.
6. And this is a big one While there is a hint in the contacts briefing that this is going to be a timed mission, Id highly recommend that you be a lot more specific and direct in telling the player this is the case. While the time you gave was sufficient to complete the mission, you never know when a player (like me) is going to accept a mission to queue it up, while intending to take a break to (say) call his wife and eat dinner. Obviously, if it was clear it was timed, I wouldnt have done that. Sure, you could make the argument that we probably should never accept missions unless were on the cusp of being ready to play them, but there are a lot of us who just dont do it and the worlds not fair: youll be the one who gets blamed (and a low rating) when the timer runs out and we fail the mission. (That isnt what happened in this case, but it could have)
Here are a few typos I noticed Id recommend you do a very careful read-through, though. In general, Ill write down the first three or four I see, but if theres more (and there were), Ill just mention you should do a sweep for typos.
In the introductory text for mission one: every other kind of gangs (gangs should probably be gang)
Same briefing: The have had complaints (not sure what that should say, it didnt make sense in context with the rest of the briefing)
In the first mission, in one of the clues, you misspelled shipment as shipement
In the third mission briefing questioning is misspelled (questionning)
Hope the feedback helps! I can honestly say that I think this is going to be a very fun and interesting arc to play once it really gets fleshed out. Ive made a note to try it out in the future with a higher level character, and Im always willing to up a rating if there are improvements in the arc.
Also, I did play and rate Cosplay Madness I was originally going to write up and post a review here, but Kitsune and I had a discussion online that ended up including most of the feedback (and more than a few questions) I would have put here. In all honesty, Im pretty strapped for time, so unless she specifically requests it, Im going to hold off.
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
Thank you very much Pro Payne, I have been following up on comments from ridiculous_girl too and here is a list of changes I made last night
- The energy melee now has claws
- The Archery has /Poison instead of /Martial Arts
- I changed the contact to a detective (which seemed to make more sense with the setup text)
- I corrected shipment everywhere (I must have been drunk)
- I removed an ambush in the first mission when you freed the ally. (needed file space and it didn't move the story along)
- Electric Mango was mentionned in a Patrol but then mysteriously appeared in the contact text ... so yeah I added some text to the end of mission clue to sum up the patrol conversation.
- Removed the timer on the 2nd mission (was going for a feeling of urgency but the mobs are trying to slow you down so ... )
- All of the mobs now have descriptions
- I changed the critter for the scientist (his supergroup said something like Actor - Doctor on TV, the new one says Ex-villain, captive ... which is closer to what I needed)
I think this addresses some of your concerns. I play tested it after and the minions were not as "deadly" even with the sonic debuff still there. I will go back with a controler or something to see how hard it really is and I still have that once around on the gramar to do.
My file size is at 99.97 or something, so ... I would have to remove some of my characters to add more text, and it may happen. But, with the new bios, the detective as the contact and a better balancing of the mobs (with the patch and some added changes) I think its a good step in the right direction.
Thank you very much for the feedback.
Char Site | My DeviantArt
Global=@Thornster
[ QUOTE ]
Changes in how I'll be doing reviews:
In short, I won't be, unless you specifically request one be posted here, and I trust you to be fair and honest.
[/ QUOTE ]
I like long reviews. I do them for other people when I can. Hit me.
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)
Ask and you shall receive (although, as you'll see, I can't offer much in the way of constructive criticism, because I can't find a whole lot to criticize in this next arc...)
#1874: Dream Paper (5 stars)
The Lost were breaking into an apartment complex and a hero was needed to head them off, and figure out what they were up to. Pro Payne took up the job, and found the lost ransacking the place, apparently looking for something specific. What they were looking for was something of a surprise: some packets of powder that belonged to an old woman Grandma Yan. Given that the Lost were actually trying to get their hands on the stuff, for a little bit Pro Payne was wondering if Yan was a pusher of shift (the Losts mutagenic drug) a sinister wolf in sheeps clothing. But Pro Payne was way off.
The powder wasnt shift but it was a controlled substance, and led Pro Payne to a local Tsoo drug operation. The Tsoo were packing up shop and getting ready to bug out (Were they tipped off?). Pro Payne shut down the operation and arrested ringleader, but promptly found out that things were not exactly what they seemed: the drug boss was Yans grandson, and the drug was just an herbal remedy. It was a false lead, although the other drugs there were not so innocuous shutting down the drug lab may not have helped the investigation, but Pro Payne was happy to make sure some bad stuff never made it to the street.
It was unlikely the Lost were after an herbal remedy, but they were sure after something in a bold move they raided the police lab analyzing the substance. Pro Payne pitched in to fight them off, and found something very strange: the Lost were not after the powder they were after the paper it was wrapped it. According to the lab analysis, the paper had the ability to store psychic imprints, and could even mesmerize someone who looked at a large enough square of it. And the Lost were treating it as though it were some sort of holy scripture.
A bit of digging revealed the paper had actually come from a youth hostel it had originally been delivered there by a troll living below Silver Lake. Pro Payne paid him a visit (fighting his way through the other trolls living in the tunnels below the lake trolls who were not happy that the paperboys activities had led a hero to their doorstep), but the troll paperboy didnt seem to have any real involvement in a Lost plot. He was secretly trying to go clean, and honestly thought he was doing the director of the hostel, Mr. Blaloch (I may be misspelling the name), a favor.
The troll paperboy gladly gave up the location of his pick up point, and, not surprisingly, it turned out to be a warehouse full of the Lost working to produce more of this dream paper with the potential to mesmerize people, and even lull them into going wherever the Lost wanted them (by, for example, filling their head with the suggestion that a particular sewer entrance was home), the dream paper was potentially a powerful recruitment tool for the Lost, and a threat to the city. But the real surprise was the Losts Prophet the man responsible for the whole operation: Mr. Blaloch! (Okay, actually I wasnt that surprised I figured it was either going to be him, or Granny Yan was going to turn out to be the one)
Oddly, Mr. Blaloch did not seem to be in control of his own actions he was behaving as though possessed by a separate consciousness. That separate consciousness was a powerful psychic, and apparently responsible for imprinting the Dream Paper. Pro Payne, as a rule, doesnt really like beating up old men, but the only way to stop Mr. Blalochs alter ego was to physically subdue the poor old man. It worked
Blaloch will recover from his injuries, and there is no trace of the consciousness left.
But that leaves one final mystery. The dream paper was not powerful enough to implant an artificial consciousness in anyone Mr. Blalochs alter ego had another source, and Blaloch has no memory of it.
Pros: The work GlaziusF puts in his arcs shines through this arc is well organized, well written, has an interesting story, and is fun to play. I really couldnt find anything to complain about hence the rating: if I had a good time playing an arc, really enjoyed the story, and cant think of any concrete ways to make it better (that are strongly needed), thats five stars in my book.
Cons: All I can put here are nitpicks and minor ones at that. In my opinion, the weakest part of the story is the red herring angle in mission two, and weakest is a relative term here. There isnt a problem with actually playing through the false lead, and the mission itself is well done, but it could also be fairly easily written out of the story altogether by having the police lab analysis immediately determine the powder is an herbal remedy, and *wham* it gets attacked by the Lost looking for the paper. As I said, the mission doesnt hurt the story it just doesnt really drive it forward much in my opinion, and the most direct way to improve the arc would be to write it out and use the extra space to perhaps expand the story at the end (theres certainly more that could be explored in terms of that other consciousness that was infecting Mr. Blaloch). The bottom line, though, is the arc is (IMO) five stars as-is and doesnt really need to be changed: but if I was hell-bent to change something to improve the arc, thats what Id change. Beyond that, I didnt notice any obvious typos in casual play, and had no problem with the writing there really just arent many cons that I could find to complain about in this arc: and thats a really good thing!
Of course, if there's no sequel planned, then I can add one final nit-pick: the arc lacks definitive closure. But the fact that I cared enough about the story to want to follow it further is certainly a Pro.
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
Hey there! I noticed you reviewed #1402. Thanks!
I thought I'd offer up a couple of links to clarify a few subtle things about the arc, just for fun.
Link 1
Link 2
61866 - A Series of Unfortunate Kidnappings - More than a coincidence?
2260 - The Burning of Hearts - A green-eyed monster holds the match.
379248 - The Spider Without Fangs - NEW - Some lessons learned (more or less.)
<QR>
Sequel's written. Perhaps eventually there may be a way to post it without throwing my other arcs in the dustbin.
Standing invite: if you have someone on Virtue, Triumph (heroes), Protector (villains), or Champion (both) and are curious where it was going to go I can show you the somewhat unpolished test version.
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)
[ QUOTE ]
Pro Payne is at 16 right now, and I want to keep him moving forward
[/ QUOTE ]
Sounds like you are getting into a good range to play Teen Phalanx Forever! (arc id 67335) The premise is that a teen version of your character joins a teen superhero team, and has adventures and melodrama. The missions are 15-20, 20, 20-25 and 25-29 (the level ranges intentionally ramp up to give you the sense that you are "leveling up" between missions), using mostly standard PvE enemies, so should be quite doable for a lowbie (I've gone through it on a 7 scrapper). There are AVs in it, but not crazy-hard ones; I tried to balance it for soloability.
Feel free to post a review if you like. I'm pretty open to constructive criticism.
@PW - Police Woman (50 AR/dev blaster on Liberty)
TALOS - PW war journal - alternate contact tree using MA story arcs
=VICE= "Give me Liberty, or give me debt!"
Might be a while before you get to them, but here you go.
Arc ID: 1709
Arc Title: The Amulet of J'gara
Morality: Heroic
Levels: 25-33
Arc ID: 1567
Arc Title: MacGuffin Delivery Service
Morality: Villainous (Nothing really evil, just a heist gone wrong in a wacky fashion.)
Levels: 35-40
Arc ID: 3326
Arc Title: The Portal Bandits
Morality: Heroic
Levels: 35-50
I've put it in the queue, it's currently right around several other arcs where the author has claimed 10-14 should be a good level range, so I'll pay special attention to how it seems to play (difficulty-wise) on a true lowbie and give you what feedback I can.
To all who are following this thread: today and this weekend are likely to be fairly busy. I *might* get to one arc today, but that's iffy, and I'm positive Pro Payne will be "putting in long hours at his real job" this weekend. Just wanted to let everyone know so that you all don't think he's given up - Pro Payne will be back, trying out your arcs on Monday (and, like I said, perhaps one last one today)!
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)