Pro Payne: From 1 to 50 in M.A. (suggest arcs!)
By
airhead,
Posted on: 2009-04-21 21:52 in Mission Architect
Thanks for the review! Glad you had so much fun.
After you told me about that (and that they had changed it so certain versions of Aeon don't give XP), I changed him to the "standard" one. I hate losing the extra layer to the radiation joke, but better that the player have a doable challenge and gets some reward for it than losing out entirely.
For what it's worth, on a big team those Aeon ambushes get ridiculous. Solo or on a small team they're a fun distraction, but when you've got a team of eight and a dozen or so show up, it can get pretty tough.
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Okay, the next review request was for:
#113615: Deal with the Devils Pawn (4 stars)
A young lady by the name of Angelique Pio approached Pro Payne with dire news: a Circle of Thorns mage named the Devils Pawn had stolen an artifact called Lucifers Scroll, with the intent of performing a ritual with it that would unleash the forces of evil and darkness on Paragon City and even the world. But these forces of darkness would be more than mere demon hordes the scroll could plant the seeds of evil in the whole of humanity, twisted the whole human race into darkness, and making us all slaves to evil.
Pro Payne quickly infiltrated the lair of the Devils Pawn a section of Orenbega. There he retrieved Lucifers Scroll, and defeated the Devils Pawn.
Pros: This is a single mission arc, which is a pro if youre looking for quick action without getting involved in a long arc (and I have a special appreciation for one or two mission arcs that are not farms. Personally, I like variety in arc length, and the fact I get to intersperse epic 5 mission arcs with much shorter single mission ones is a good thing. Also, the mission itself is well done the text is good, the mission goals clear, and nice use of color formatting. Make no mistake: the mission is well done, and fun. So why four stars?
Cons: Well, before I answer that, let me first list a few things that had no bearing on my rating. First, its worth mentioning that some folks may get a little leery of such direct references to the devil and satanic artifacts. Personally, I dont see a problem at all, and Im not suggesting a change to something more sanitized (I think that gets done too often anyway), but its worth mentioning so the author can get a bit of a head start on thinking of how to handle the situation in the event you do see a complaint show up under the mission (I sincerely hope it wont). Second, personally, the Circle of Thorns (and Orenbega) are not my favorite villain group, especially pre-30, when the spectrals can get to be such a huge pain in the butt (especially if you are resistance-based, rather than defense-based, which makes it easier for them to stack those irritating to-hit debuffs on you). Im not at all sure if the map was a chosen one, or a random map (e.g. random medium, random large, etc.) the teleport portals on the map I got were only mildly obnoxious: not bad enough to really raise my hackles, but enough to delay mission completion. Yeah, it sucks, since, as the author, you didnt get to design the faction or the map, but I list it as a con because youre certain to run across folks who will poorly rate the mission just based on the choice of the Circle of Thorns, and Orenbega. (Yes, you can make that arguments for any villain group and map you cant please everyone but youre probably going to draw slightly more than average in this case.)
Also, another minor nit (again, not related to the rating at all) the use of the Circle here is a little non-canon: not egregious, but just as an FYI. Specifically, the mission set up treats the Circle as a cabal of mages (which they are), but implies that they are modern day folks dabbling in the black arts. Theyre not: (warning, spoiler coming: the Circle are mostly the discorporated spirits of the ancient Orenbegans literally the original Circle of Thorns possessing the bodies of modern day folks who were either lured into or forced into a ritual that effectively kills them and allows the Orenbegan spirit to possess the body. So, most of the Circle are not modern-day people who have been inducted into the Circle and taught the magical arcs: theyre actually long-dead mages possessing the bodies of the living. (And this does violate the description given for the Devils Pawn.) Now, to be fair, there game does at least hint that some Circle members are modern-day mages, and, for reasons that were convenient to the Circle, were allowed to keep their souls and bodies rather than becoming a vessel to house a reborn Orenbegan mage but these are evidently so rare that I cant think of any main named characters in the game that fall into this category. But the net result is that if you treat a Circle mage as anything other than a long-dead Orenbegan possessing a hijacked modern-day body, then people who are familiar with the games canon are very likely to see that as non-canonical.
Okay, though, so why 4 stars? Well, I have to be completely honest it has to do with the fundamentals of how I decide on a rating (which is useful to list here, since most of the people who are reviewing arcs at least make a mention of their criteria). This isnt exhaustive, by the way:
My baseline for any arc is 3 stars, and my base expectation is that it should be as good as a newspaper or police scanner mission. So if you write an arc with a fairly short, but coherent, briefing and send-off, is one mission long, has objectives similar to what is found in paper missions (for example, get the glowie, and defeat the boss guarding it), and minimal text (a clue for the glowie, and dialog for the boss), thats three stars (or at least what Id rate it other reviews certainly have differing criteria). Okay, now do that really well: add a patrol or two, with some text. Add formatting and coloring. Expand a bit what the boss says well, thats a definitely improvement, and that bumps the arc up to four stars.
So, for a single mission arc, what would I suggest to bump it up even more? Well, honestly, there are probably several things: multiple interesting characters, possibly part of a custom group (Slash DeMento did this well), is one. But, in my opinion, the easiest one is just to use mission objects to tell a more substantial story that unfolds as you play through the mission.
Of course, I cant write that story for you, but I can tell you theres a lot of potential for one built into your idea for the mission: youve got a deranged Circle mage in possession of a powerful magical artifact (apparently one that belongs to or was made by the devil himself). Perhaps clues in the mission could tell us more about how he came to acquire it, or what the ritual entails perhaps theres a sub-boss, a demon or something (or another Circle mage) whose been summoned in and has filled the Devils Pawn with promises of glory and power if hell just complete the ritual. Honestly, I dont want to brainstorm too many, because your other arcs make it clear youve got good creative potential for writing interesting, character-driven stories, and Id like to see where you can take this.
So, the bottom line: as is, its a jazzed up newspaper mission (which Id typically rate 4 stars, which is exactly what I did) the next step would be fleshing out and expanding the story, which really boils down to giving the player more to do in the mission to drive an expanded story forward.
(Note, Im certainly not suggesting it needs to be spread out over multiple missions but, to me, a 5-star single mission arc actually needs to tell an unfolding, mini-story-arc as the mission progresses.
Finally, just a few typos and notes: very minor.
One, one of your patrols makes a statement to the effect of enter our Circle when referring to my invasion of their lair. It just struck me as a little weird, because it made it sound like I was trying to actually join them itd probably make a little more sense for them to refer to me as entering their lair or invading their lair (or something similar).
Also, Devils Pawn (whose dialog I really liked good job of evil archmage over the top blustering) accuses me of an interuption of my work. (the typo being that there are two rs in interruption.)
Whew! And now, back to the game! Pro Payne will probably take a short break from posting reviews for a very simple reason theyre very time consuming, and as he gets to higher and higher levels, Ive got to sink more and more time into playing him to keep his advancement reasonably fast. That doesnt mean that Im not taking any new review requests. Im still looking for arc suggestions, and if youd like a review, as opposed to a simple playthrough, feel free to ask. But Im probably going to limit myself to one per week, which means either I might post a review for you after a delay (as happened with Geek Boy) or I might shuffle your arc around in my queue to try to have only about one review request per week.
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Thank you, again, for reviewing another of my arcs. This was my very first attempt at creating one, so I guess that's reflected in the lack of story developement and use of mission objectives. I'm debating whether I should give this one a full revamp or not, because I have another custom group that I have been mulling over a story that will tie them to Slash DeMento. I'm debating whether I should replace this arc or the shorter version of Slash (The Stolen Weapons).
Since I've only been playing for a year, much of the canon still escapes me. I do want to try to stick to it as much as I can, so I do appreciate any feedback that can help me in that regard. That was one of the main reasons for creating my own enemy groups. At least that way, I can tie them loosely to canonical elements (like Slash's ties to the Outcasts) without heading into direct conflict with canon. Since most of my chars are magic based, I liked the idea of using the CoT as a story element to fight. I agree, they can be a real pain in the butt because of their debuffs. Also, I think the map is set to random, but I will double check it. Some of those portals seem not to work as they should. I've had problems where I've gone through one and it just turned me around and sent me back the way I came.
I'm glad you caught the typos/misspellings, and the reference to 'enter our Circle' (canon smacks me again, lol). I can fix those easily when I get in game. I might at least tweak this one a bit and leave it up until I decide what to do with the one I'm currently working on. That might be a good idea, since it may take a while to finish the other one. Maybe with just a little more time invested this one could be a much more interesting story. I'll see what I can come up with to make it better. If the 'Lucifer' references are a real problem, I might just change it to some 'unknown' ancient entity with distant ties to the CoT, or a 'mythical legend' that has been lost to history.
I'm thankful that using standard enemies will allow for a lot more text in the form of clues, etc., that I can use for story telling. Using customs makes it much harder to add that kind of content in the amount of detail that I would like to use without an arc being limited to one or two missions.
Thanks again for the review. This kind of feedback and encouragement really gets my creative juices flowing. 
Re-posted because I accidentally deleted the wrong post. I'm such a n00b!
No AV/EBs Deal with The Devil's Pawn-207266 Slash DeMento and the Stolen Weapons-100045 Meet the Demon Spawn-151099 Feedback
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#67335: Teen Phalanx Forever.
I hate to admit it (and I apologize for any hurt feelings), but for such a well put together arc, I was rather bored at least until the 3rd mission.
...
The first two missions were on somewhat long maps that I have done many times before and are fairly close to simply being replicas of canon missions, with the TFP inserted in. On one level, it works well since it gives the impression that Im helping the Teen Phalanx (for example) in *their* run to stop the Vahzilok wasting disease (Dr. Vahzilok even had mostly the same dialog) but the problem is Ive stopped the Vahzilok disease so many times before that (one) Im rather bored of it, and (two) it does kind of break immersion (if real Pro Payne actually stopped the Vahzilok plague some time back, shouldnt Kid Pro Payne and the TFP be stopping an all new plot?). I *may* have missed something, but I think actually adding some clues and changing some text to flesh out the tail-end of an all-new Vahzilok plot would be really neat (or even somehow have the Teen Phalanx members relate the stages of the story arc they were on prior to you getting there to help with their final battle with Dr. Vahzilok).
...
The clockwork mission was a variation from the finale mission in Synapses TF, which was good! But, again, I almost wanted more background story in here, to create the feel that I was part of foiling more of a plot than kidnap Penelope to make her the clockwork princess although, on a sinister note, perhaps some gear that suggests the King intended to remove her brain and implant it in a clockwork body. Admittedly, that may be a bit too dark for this arc, though (and really isnt very canon).
...
Basically, missions one and two just didnt capture my attention as much as I wanted them to
....
My honest opinion: with a bit of sprucing up of the first two missions, Id certainly have been willing to rate this arc a solid 5 stars.
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I just wanted to say that your review of my arc was very influential on me. With your comments in mind, I've done an extensive revamp of the first two missions of Teen Phalanx Forever! I have given both Dr. Vahzilok and the Clockwork King their own evil plots, which should be nothing like any of the canonical Vahz and Clock arcs; along with supporting dialog, clues and some custom models for eye candy. I'm actually quite pleased with the result.
If you are interested in doing so, I'd invite you to give it another try. I'll understand if you'd rather not, though (I'm sure you've leveled past the range for the first two missions and maybe are looking for new material anyway).
Regardless, thanks much for your thoughtful and constructive feedback, which I feel has helped me improve my story arc considerably. Thanks again!
@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!"
And, for what it's worth, one of the easiest ways to deal with the "non-canon" problem definitively is to put the NCMA tag in your description (at least, hopefully, until I15 makes tagging an arc's 'genre' part of the MA system).
Granted, not everybody is wild about the 'tags', but I've found them very useful overall. There's actually something very intriguing about looking at a "standard" group through the lens of "what if this is the way they were set up?"
What if the Clockwork really *were* a brillaintly engeneered, elecrically powered AI collective?
What if the Circle of Thorns were a direct result of a surge in magical energies that gave modern people access to magical powers that had been lacking for the past 1,000 years?
What if all of the members of the Devouring Earth were mutated humans, not just the Devoured?
It's something that an author could really have a lot of fun with.
(I don't have a particular point I'm trying to make - I'm just musing...)
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'd be happy to try out the arc again, if for no other reason than to see than changes for the first two missions (and possibly change the rating based on that).
One 'fair warning' sort of thing: if I don't get to it this week, it'll probably be about three to four weeks.
(And in fact, Pro Payne is going to be absent for nearly all of next week, as I've got a three day observing run next week, and just plain won't have time to get online.)
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)
Sorry about that. I'm such a n00b on the boards, I posted in the wrong thread, then edited the wrong post. 
No AV/EBs Deal with The Devil's Pawn-207266 Slash DeMento and the Stolen Weapons-100045 Meet the Demon Spawn-151099 Feedback
Just a very quick update:
Pro Payne is "back" - been playing him off and on most of the week. He just recently reached level 28, and just now got the golden ticket badge (not that it counts for much now that so many of the badges are going away 
).
I'm actually pleased to report that, by and large, doing searches on "MLMA" arcs is giving me some pretty good arcs to keep Pro Payne occipied with.
I'm putting off writing another review until next week (trying to keep those to a minimum - frankly, they're so time consuming, and my attention is split between several characters and games) - but the plan is to write up my note's on Telstar's Slash DeMento arc (the actual story arc, not the one mission "intro" arc).
I also re-played PW's Teen Phalanx arc! I just wanted to mention here that I love the rewrites! With the new additions, this arc is a solid 5-star arc (in my opinion, of course), no questions asked!
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)
Welcome back, if I hadn't missed the chance, I'll suggest my arc:
Ctrl + Alt + Reset #137561 where you're stuck in a time loop fighting Wyvern (who cap at 30) - story/humor focused.
If you've passed 29 already, you could play my other story-focused arc: Matchstick Women #3369 - story focused, 1 AV-standard difficulty w/no defensive/control powersets.
Let me throw my arc out there. The goal is for it to be accessible for all level ranges and different group dynamics (including solo); I don't yet know exactly how well it's achieved that goal. I have been making changes to it to make it more fun and playable as I get more data. It's 100% outside of canon (though given the setup, it does make sense that a CoH character would end up in the story). Here's the info:
Arc Name: Destined Champion of the Multiverse
Arc ID: 128476
Faction: Custom Group
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Purple Badger
Difficulty Level: Moderate?
Synopsis: Your character has been chosen to protect the multiverse. You travel through various dimensions tracking down threats to the peace of all dimensions.
Estimated Time to Play: 2 hours?
Link to More Details and Feedback
I know what SFMA means, but what is MLMA?
The SOLUS Foundation - a Liberty and Pinnacle SG
"The Consequences of War" - Arcs # 227331 and 241496
It stands for "Mid-Level Mission Architect" or "Medium-Level Mission Architect." It specifically refers to MA missions written to be playable by characters in the 20-40 level range (although, as a caveat, some characters in the early 20s may have trouble with some missions that auto-SK you up into the high 30s)...
Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I'll add them to my list!
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)
*This particular post is just to preserve this arc (I don't want it to get pruned).
I'm working on an update for Pro Payne, and his quest to get to level 30 in Mission Architect.
The short version: he's almost level 31, and at this point, I've played through nearly every arc that has been recommended in previous posts in this thread. I'm currently trying out the new search features and the keywords too, so I'll post my impressions of that as well. And, as always, feel free to throw out arcs you'd like for me to try. More next week (including a listing of every arc that I've played, that's still up, so you can see if Pro Payne has played your creation or not).
*EDIT: Just got told (see below) that this forum doesn't get pruned any more, so I won't be making a post like this again. Apologies. (And good to know, so thank 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)
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*This particular post is just to preserve this arc (I don't want it to get pruned).
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Just so you know, this forum does not get cleaned out anymore.
Justice Blues, Tech/Tank, Inv/SS
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Fighting The Future Trilogy
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Well, Pro Payne has just recently reached level 31 in his quest to level up to 50 in Mission Architect (with a very small number of caveats check out his first post for those). In looking back on the past 31 levels, Ive really wanted to put together a list of all the arcs Pro Payne has played to get to this point, not only to create a master list of the ratings Ive given these arcs, but also as a reference for arcs that have really stood out for me, for some reason or another.
Pro Paynes play experience to this point can best be described as slow, but balanced by easy access to equipment, which seems to be the developer design behind MA. I have absolutely no doubt that I could advance to 50 considerably faster doing main game content, but the balancing factor is that this is the easiest time Ive ever had keeping a character equipped with enhancements. I traditionally switch over to IOs between levels 35 and 40 (meaning I start slotting in level 35 IOs at level 32), so well see if the trend of keeping myself easily decked out in standard equipment (i.e. SOs and common IOs) continues Ill post my observations of that when the time comes. But, for now, keeping both Pro Paynes primary and secondary builds totally up to date as far as SOs go has not been an issue, and Ive always had tickets to spare.
But, as I mentioned at the beginning of the last paragraph, the tradeoff is the slowness of advancement. Early on, the lack of patrol experience, and the lack of a mission bonus was barely noticeable but now it is certainly very obvious. I dont have a truly objective measure, but it certainly feels like it takes Pro Payne about twice as long to gain a level here in the 30s than it does for one of my outside characters. I dont intend that statement as criticism, by the way simply an observation. In fact, I get the impression that is working as intended.
Sadly, long gone are the days where I could track things like total tickets earned, total missions played, etc. through the badge system. In fact, thats been the biggest disappointment of the whole experience so far: slowly accumulating badges while I played through MA really did add to the experience for an all MA character. Now the MA badges are an unimportant and trivial part of the whole experience; their removal truly seems to have removed something fun from Pro Paynes little adventure through the world of custom content.
One final caveat: Im not a reviewer, or at least I dont consider myself a real one (which is one of the reasons Ive been so burned out on writing more reviews in this threat). While its certainly true that any reviewer's ratings are somewhat subjective, I would posit that mine are probably more subjective than average. My main guideline is really more a reference point: an arc that strikes me as something that could be any old average arc in the main game starts as 3 stars. And I go from there: things I really like (interesting custom foes, interesting story, lots of story, interesting mission design, etc.) cause me to increase my rating. Things I dont like (overly hard custom foes, very little story overall, lack of custom mob descriptions, or lack of interesting variation among custom mobs, long and tedious mission design, bad spelling and grammer, etc.) cause me to reduce my rating. So with that said, on to the list:
List of arcs played by Pro Payne:
The arcs are arranged in order of their official rating (i.e. all of the arcs that are maintaining a five star rating overall are listed first, followed by the ones maintaining a four star rating, etc.). Ive included the arc ID and the rating I gave the arc (but see the legend below).
Legend:
No question marks: Either the rating I gave this arc is visible to me when I look at the arc in the MA search window, or Im absolutely positive this is the rating I gave the arc.
? Although I completed this arc, I can no longer see the rating I gave it in the MA search window (I have no idea why I can see some of my ratings and not other, but there you go). However, Im pretty sure that the rating Im listing is the one I gave the arc.
?? Same as one question mark, but in this case Im considerably less sure the rating Im reporting is the one I gave the arc. In some rare cases, if I absolutely cant remember the rating I gave the arc, Ive just put the ?? with no star rating.
These are Pro Paynes recommended arcs. They are not necessarily the best arcs I think he played overall, and youll even notice they are not all arcs he gave five stars to, but they are all arcs that stood out for some reason as very memorable (really great story, the first time I saw a particular really interesting mechanic used, a very memorable custom group). Even if theyre not (necessarily) the pinnacle of what MA has to offer, in my opinion they are truly worth taking a look at. (I usually include a brief comment about what really stood out about the arc.) Of course, these recommended arcs are basically from memory. I certainly reserve the right to put the smiley face next to any arcs on this list that I later remember hey, that *was* a memorable arc!
(Officially 5 stars)
Johnny Sonata and the Hitmen (1001, 4 stars)
The Butterfly Effect (2965, 3 stars)
Welcome to Architect Entertainment (1004, 3 stars)
The Footsteps Initiative (2291, 5 stars) Very funny and entertaining to play.
The Return of the Lizard People (2974, 4 stars)
The Perfect Brew (2007, 4 stars)
Cats and Lizards (88842, 4 stars)
Teen Phalanx Forever (67335, 5 stars) One of the best arcs Ive played overall, IMO.
Speeding Through Time (51728, 5 stars) Very neat story!
The Burning of Hearts (2260, 5 stars) One of the best stories Ive played overall, IMO.
A Series of Unfortunate Kidnappings (61866, 5 stars)
Future Imperfect (10931, 5 stars*official rating)
(Officially 4 stars)
The Invasion of the Bikini-Clad Samuri Vampiresses from Outer Space (61013, 5 stars)
Pandas vs. Rikti (68930, 4 stars) Interesting story and custom group.
Facing the Darkness (89438, 4 stars)
Death to Disco! (84420, 4 stars)
The Fanboys Fleece (91836, 5 stars)
Ctrl + Alt + Reset! Aka Time Loop (137561, 5 stars?) Very neat story! Cool gimmick
The Age of Aquarius (79061, 2 stars)
Rise of the Drakule (51357, 5 stars) Very neat and funny story! Great custom foes!
Getting to Know Crey Financial: The Teaser (1034, 3 stars)
Sub Hero Inc. Technology Operation (1541, 3 stars)
Rumble with Beef Cake (1070, 3 stars)
Gnomish Madness (30204, 4 stars)
The Easter Basket (35334, 4 stars)
Save the Spiderlings! (13986, 5 stars?) Very quick story; found it surprisingly humorous for such a simple concept.
Trademark Infringement (2220, ??)
What Happens IN CyberSpace Stays In The Recycle Bin!!! (17030, 3 stars)
Bricked Electronics (2180, 5 stars) Very good story!
The Missing (37636, 4 stars)
Dream Paper (1874, 5 stars) Very good story!
Sub Hero Inc. Double Helix (12179, 3 stars)
Welcome to the Legion of Valor! (5676, 3 stars)
The Wool Over Ones Eyes ver 2.90 (1033, ??)
To Serve Cookie (2646, 4 stars)
Small Fears (12285, 5 stars?) Very good story!
The Decryption (188282, 3 stars)
Assault on Aru Prime (174586, 3 stars)
Fighting Freedom (177930, 4 stars?)
The Audition Part One (221240, 5 stars?) Very good story will well-done humor!
Duality (84105, 3 stars)
King of Thieves Part 1: All Hells Breaking Loose (76190, 5 stars?) Very good story!
Hero Thearpy! (119228, 5 stars?) Very good story!
Sukiyaki Rumble (158629, 3 stars)
Santas Workshop of Misfit Toys (134140, ??)
The Monster Hop (27861, 4 stars)
Ruturn of the Revenge of the Son of Drakule Part 2: First Blood (84543, 4 stars) Very good story!
The Crazy Clown (93574, 4 stars)
The Lazarus Project* (124906, 4 stars*official rating) Pseudo (I wrote it! Don't take this recommendation too seriously!)
Everlasting Life (108335, 4 stars) Very interesting custom group!
Kiss Hello Goodbye (156389, 4 stars) Really liked the feel!
Brokering the Brikers (37724, 4 stars)
The Paradox Raid (67566, 4 stars)
Trollbane (106553, 3 stars)
Shenanigans on Striga (91644, 3 stars)
Cracking Skulls* (115935, 4 stars*official rating)
The Second Coming of the Mega Mech (122274, ??) Good story mixed with very neat custom group!
What are we doing tonight Iggy? (34399, 2 stars)
Invasion of the Samurai (93272, 2 stars)
Adventures in Arkham (139180, 3 stars)
Intrigue in The Arcana (14160, 1 star)
Found and Lost (1147, 3 stars)
The Amulet of Jgara (1709, ??)
Blowback (4643, 4 stars)
Matchstick Women (3369, ??)
Jumping in feet first (1345, 4 stars)
Hero Corps: To Russia With Intrigue! (6583, 2 stars)
Sgt. Hoolihan and the Missing Pants (1125, 4 stars)
In Her Own Image V 3.35 (2085, 4 stars)
Zombies have the Cheerleaders! Something about Purify Sacrifice? (22908, 3 stars)
In The Shadow Of The Towers (1402, 4 stars)
Every Rose
(17702, 3 stars)
A Little RnR (17523, 3 stars) Interesting and complex custom group, but be prepared for a difficult fight!
Hell Comes to Paragon (18109, 4 stars) Interesting take on the Hellions.
KITs Chaos (193782, 3 stars)
Learning The Ropes* (100304, 4 stars*official rating)
Slash DeMento and the Stolen Weapons (100045, 5 stars?) Wonderfully done custom group!
Meet the Demon Spawn (151099, 4 stars)
Hunter of Beasts: It starts with a riot
(110465, 3 stars??)
The Hijacking of the Kumo Maru (35050, 2 stars)
Finding The Lost Leaders (4639, 2 stars)
Hall Hath No Fury (52817, 3 stars)
First Encounter (56311, 2 stars)
By Any Means (199400, 4 stars)
Final Exam: a Chibi Strike Force (106283, 3 stars)
Destined Champion of the Multiverse (128476, 4 stars)
Into the Screaming Void (164437, 2 stars)
Paragon City Sheriffs Department Qualifying Simulation-Part 3 (165788, 2 stars)
(Officially 3 stars)
Low Tide (1154, 3 stars)
Cosplay Madness (3643, 4 stars) First time I saw a mission set to spawn mid-mission.
Collecting the Evil Doctors Debt (17482, 4 stars)
On the Streets (2947, 2 stars)
Defeat Liscku (50643, 1 star)
*official rating = this is an arc I wrote myself, and so the rating is the current official rating, not the rating I gave it.
Thats it for now! I look forward to more updates as Pro Payne slowly works toward 50.
Current Projects: Use the new search features, and see how easily I can now find good arcs that match the kind of arcs Im looking to play in a given session.
Also, go back and edit some of the ratings - there are a few where I've still got the rating written down in my notes (or earlier in this thread), even though it's not visible in MA. When I get a chance, I'll go back through those to 'correct' as many uncertain ratings as I can.
And, as always, Im always open to suggestions (and am still, slowly, working through arcs that have been recommended).
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)
Bah, too bad you are already 31, or I would recommend my new arc. It caps at 29.
...I forgot what experience means.
All my arcs should be manageable at your current level. The History of Statesman is a humor arc while the other two are more serious. Feel free to check them out below.
vvvv
Go ahead and recommend it! Granted, Pro Payne may not play it, but I do have other characters who might (Pro Payne is certainly not the *only* character I play).
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'd be interested in seeing how a leveling character fares on my arc. I set it for 35-54 if you want to give it a go. It tends to be a bit on the easier side for scrappers/brutes and other similar ATs with full IOs so a different perspective would be nice. Relevant search information is in the signature.
I've been waiting for you to hit 30 before opening my yap, so now's the time, I guess...
I've set my "The Consequences of War" arcs (noted in my signature) at 30 - 54. The AVs at the end of each arc would scale to EBs, but they might still be a challenge. Both arcs have been good XP earners when I've play-tested them with characters lower than 50, so they may work well for you.
In any case, I figured I'd add them to your "suggested playing" list.
The SOLUS Foundation - a Liberty and Pinnacle SG
"The Consequences of War" - Arcs # 227331 and 241496
[ QUOTE ]
Go ahead and recommend it! Granted, Pro Payne may not play it, but I do have other characters who might (Pro Payne is certainly not the *only* character I play).
[/ QUOTE ]
Well all righty then!
Arc Title: The Superadine Revolution
Arc ID#: 262739
Description: No longer content just to push Superadine and commit petty crimes, the Skulls are attempting to steal control of the entire Superadine operation from the leaders of the Family. The combination of the dark magic of the Skulls and the pure strain of Superadine would make them incredibly powerful...
Author: @SpaceNut
Alignment: Heroic, levels 20-29
Length: Approx 1 hour (5 missions)
Difficulty Level: Moderate (Elite bosses in 2 missions, but otherwise soloable)
Enemies: Family, "Skulls"
...I forgot what experience means.
If the rating doesn't show any more in your search, that means that you are able to rate it again and have it count as another rating.
I don't mean to be overly dense here, but which of the following is happening:
A. If I *changed* my rating for an arc, it will no longer display a rating (meaning it will neither display the old one nor the new one), but the number of plays *doesn't* tick up (e.g. I'm "changing the grade", *not* sneaking in two "plays" and "grades").
B. Under certain circumstances, if I replay an arc and give it a new grade, the system will actually count it as a second play: BOTH grades I gave the arc count toward its overall rating, and the author actually sees the number of plays go up. When this happens, I no longer see either rating I gave the arc.
Which option, A or B, is correct (or closest to correct)?
Wow, I hope that made sense...
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)
When an arc doesn't show the rating for me it's most often been for one of several reasons:
C. Arcs rated 5 stars never show the star rating
D. Arcs with faulty @author info (rare but you can tell because your feedback doesn't go through unless you restart the arc)
E. Possibly arcs that the author has "republished"
Generally after a period of 2 weeks (or thereabouts) you can rate an arc again and the author will get the tickets again but the rating "count" will remain unchanged. I don't think it will make the stars show up again for you, but the system is so glitchy who knows? I've found that searching by "completed" is more reliable than by "voted on".
I tested this the other day:
There was an arc that had a low number of votes that I had previously rated, but it no longer showed it's star rating in my search.
I jumped on and gave it a quick star rating - the same as it's current average.
I hit refresh and the number of votes had gone up by one.
I think that A-E are all valid options depending on the circumstances.
Oof. Yeah, I don't expect things to go too great at level 25, as Drakule gets his last battle axe attack at level 24. At least Vampire Ashton won't have his tier 9.
I'm tired.
EDIT: Nearly forgot to thank you for playing and rating my arcs.