Who Should We Be Designing For?
I design my missions to be soloable for all classes, and the level range for which my mission falls into. I don't use custom critters because they are so overpowered with the exception of bosses and non-combat NPCs like contacts, hostages. I don't believe that they should be a cakewalk with no badies (unless the story calls for it) but I don't think there should be a definite likelihood of anyone that plays it getting debt.
I found the best formula is to make it for yourself. Enjoy what you like and put it up for others. With so many people playing opinions will vary.
I prefer something I can solo or bring a few of my friends through. Sometimes i make a thread for just that. Right now it seems there is a need for low level content. Try that!
Design an arc for what you want. Story, challenge, whatever.
Just make sure you list in the description what type it is.
There is a site - I don't have a link - that lists mission arcs and includes numbers of EBs and AVs to find or avoid
I'm of the opinion that you should build whatever type of mission you want. Afterall just like any other aspect of the game, you should do what you enjoy rather then concentrating solely on what others enjoy.
With that said however, I know that none of us want people 1 starring our story arcs. So if you're arc is ment to be unsoloable or even downright near impossible, it needs to say so in the description.
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There is a site - I don't have a link - that lists mission arcs and includes numbers of EBs and AVs to find or avoid
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High Treason's MA search site has number of EBs/AVs in searchable criteria IIRC.
Whereas City of Guides doesn't have the number, but does have flags for EBs and AVs which are searchable.
I design for me and my mates. Anything beyond that can be a frustration filled journey.
The development team and this community deserved better than this from NC Soft. Best wishes on your search.
I think it's more a matter of, "Have a target audience in mind, design for that, make sure that the mission does in fact work well for your intended audience, and then clearly label your arc so it's clear what the target audience is."
Personally, I design my story-oriented arcs to be soloable by just about any AT and powerset combo. Anything text-heavy will probably be better appreciated solo. Also, the greater the challenge, the less the time available to read enemy descriptions, go through the clues, see dialogue, etc. So I try to keep it fairly simple.
I say design for yourself. It is impossible to please everyone, so you may as well make missions that you enjoy. Just make sure to indicate what sort of mission it is (the forthcoming story tags should help with this) because no matter what you like, mystery meat is rarely tasty.
Arc #41077 - The Men of State
Arc #48845 - Operation: Dirty Snowball
I try to design my arcs to be solo-able for anybody set on Heroic. I can get that even with a fully custom enemy group by setting all power sets to "standard", encounter group sizes to "easy", and avoiding the urge to use AV or EB.
Those same settings provide a challenge to a group as long as they have their own level set toward the high end.
I think they should honestly be designed for whatever reason you want to design em. I designed my taskforce because I wanted a non-farm way to skip sewers while enjoying myself. Luckily others seem to enjoy it too.
Want comedy and lighthearted action? Between levels 1-14? Try Nuclear in 90 - The Fusionette Task Force!
Arc ID 58363!
I try to design for soloing characters, for a wide level range. Due to the nature of the custom critter powers being all set to primary levels (giving them quite a few powers at lower levels), I don't even bother attempting to balance it for very low characters.
I figure that if a player wants it harder they'll up their difficulty for more, or higher level, spawns, so I try to keep the specific spawn points set to Easy or Medium (depending on what that spawn is supposed to be doing).
Dungeoncleaners! (ID#125715): Slay the Adventurers! Rescue the Monsters! Return the Treasure!
Peppermint Cat-- Lv50 Mewtant Ice/Eng Bls
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I found the best formula is to make it for yourself.
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Seeing how its very likely that you, yourself, are going to be one of the few people to play your own missions, this is very good advice.
I design mine for me and my friends to enjoy, if they like it, that is perfect. Anything else is just gravy.
QR
I design missions so my concept, non-min-maxed characters can solo them. I design them so teams I'm on have fun. Challenge is secondary.
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
Well, when I was working on Flame's arc, my goals were to make a good story and keep out all the things that annoy me when I play Cox. So, I try to avoid putting large "kill all" maps, one shot Elite Bosses, tons of glowies or a custom critter group that had all the same power. I was pretty happy with the end product and that's what counts about the MA to me.
The Elementals - Brother Frost and Sister Flame
Who Is Sister Flame?
Arc 118690 - Sibling Rivalry (Sister Flame) Tweaked 09/15/09
Yeah, I keep encountering nigh-well unbeatable baddie types in MA missions. I am not here to complain that my TA/Arch Defender can't solo any mission he desires. I DO get a bit non-plussed when NONE of my slows and holds have any effect, even when I hit Aim, Power Boost, EMP Arrow and Ice Arrow and the baddie is not even slowed down (and one-shots me with a kick), or when the first baddie I encounter can spam Web Grenade and Caltrops AND Blind me, so that FOUR Breakfrees cannot get me loose and a medium Accuracy (all I had at the time) does no good... I get the idea that this is not going to be my mission, and I vamoose. I think it is well-established that if you are putting mega-killer baddie types in a mission, your mission description should alert folks to that. And that is for a select target audience that wants such a challenge.
The question I am posing here is what sort of general target audience SHOULD we be designing for?
Teams? Of what size, then? What composition?
How powerful should the baddies be? So powerful that the minions require Boss-level holds and debuffs, or is that too powerful?
Should it generally be possible to solo a mission for many or most players?
The purple IO'd-out Scrapper is a specialty audience, clearly. But if you are shooting for a "general" audience, who are you thinking ought to be able to typically complete your mission(s)?
"How do you know you are on the side of good?" a Paragon citizen asked him. "How can we even know what is 'good'?"
"The Most High has spoken, even with His own blood," Melancton replied. "Surely we know."