Do you read MA mission text? Clues? Descriptions?

I right-click on everything: enemies, allies, objects. I also read everything. As such, I try to make sure my arcs include descriptions, clues, and souvenirs, and am disappointed when I'm playing an arc that doesn't include much in the way of background.

How important is all the "wordy" stuff to you?

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Arc 55669 - Tales of the PPD: One Hell of a Deal (video trailer)
Arc 64511 - The Wrecking Ball
Arc 1745 - The Trouble With Trimbles
Arc 302901 - HappyCorpse

The text is where your story comes in. Otherwise it's just repetition and formula.

"OK gang we have a CoT number six to start with..."

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Writer of In-Game fiction: Just Completed: My Summer Vacation. My older things are now being archived at Fanfiction.net http://www.fanfiction.net/~jwbullfrog until I come up with a better solution.

I say make a good storyline for the people who want to enjoy a good plot to an arc and at the same time make it enjoyable enough for the ones just in it for the challenge without reading. I personally love a good story with lots of clues and things that help me guess at the plot if it is deep. My arc has a lot of that...

(Insert shameless advertising here and obvious pointing towards the signature)

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For the most part, I put in text for stuff, no matter how incidental. There are a few I've missed, but that's at least in part because my file sizes are hovering near the 100% mark.

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I rarely read enemy descriptions - it is too outside the story for me. I'm assuming the enemies don't have big tags with their descriptions on them.

I do read clues and such.

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Not only do I click on all custom mobs to see if the author took the time, trouble and attention to detail to make the best possible arc ... I also have created a Tab for NPC dialogue that I use for MA missions so that I don't miss a beat the author wanted me to see.

This added tab makes the BEST arcs (imho) EVEN MORE enjoyable because I get to enjoy each nuance of the story ... helps add to the fun of just basic GOOD arcs, where the dialogue etc helps with the ambiance but doesn't actually advance the story ... and clues me into POOR arcs (again, imho) that don't use anything but the contact information to set the tone, background and thrust of their story.

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Depends on the character I'm running. On my main MA scrapper I don't read info and descriptions. No health or end issues and some adrenaline floating around, converts all inspirations for timed boosts (dmg & luck.) Dialog yes. Clues when there is a lull or at the end of the mission.

On ranged characters, I tend to have a more leisurely pace to read info, prepare for the next fight get to the right position.

Now if I'm trying to review something, I read it all. The problem there is to judge both content and pacing. Also, I won't find fault for missing character descriptions, because it doesn't make sense that I would know anything more than what I see.

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I try to read everything, including character descriptions. If you don't read that stuff, it's not much different from doing a paper/radio mission.

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I try to read everything; if the author thought such text was worthwhile to include, maybe it's worthwhile to read, too.

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I don't read anything. I go in, Zerg the crap out of it.

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I read everything. One of my common feedback comments is "more text, please!"

Eco.

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MArcs:

The Echo, Arc ID 1688 (5mish, easy, drama)
The Audition, Arc ID 221240 (6 mish, complex mech, comedy)
Storming Citadel, Arc ID 379488 (lowbie, 1mish, 10-min timed)

I was expecting more replies like JKwervo's, but perhaps on the forums in a Mission Architect thread, I am preaching to the choir.

It's encouraging to see that I'm not alone!

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Arc 55669 - Tales of the PPD: One Hell of a Deal (video trailer)
Arc 64511 - The Wrecking Ball
Arc 1745 - The Trouble With Trimbles
Arc 302901 - HappyCorpse

I try and remember to read everything. I put in text for everything. (I admit I'm a bit lax on my SG only missions, but that's because the people intended to be playing them have the background on the NPCs etc already)

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#2409 - The Mystery of the MAGI vaults. Azuria has contacted you to help her stop the thefts from the MAGI vaults.
#68054 - Out of the gutters. Left for dead, you swore that you were through with being a victim (alt villain beginning story)

I try to read everything as well, but now I do not deduct if a custom mob has something silly in it, like say the default description for minions, lts, bosses and eb/av's. Why? Cuz I know my mish just got borked and I can't fix it, cuz of some silly system error that is padding everything.

My whole custom enemy group that I made for "The quest for Fish melee" had cute one-liner descriptions. And they all got reset to the default text, as well as the default text for the "Signature Characters" as well. When I try to go in an edit all of that, MA tells me that I have too much content- when I petitioned CS for help, they told me that MA is artificially padding content for some users. So while my mish is still playable, <sigh> I can not go in an edit it, or I run the risk of loosing some important story stuff

SO please, if your going in and playing a really good arc, and just cuz you don't see a description, please take this scenario into your realm of possibilities before grading.

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"I don't wonda what Rose is like in RL, I just imagine she is a catgurl an' wish I could cyb0r wit her. "
- the legendary J-man

Silence!!! I kill you!

Usually this is my train of thought;

1) Create my custom groups, if any.

2) Test group.

3) Make my arc missions with all the bosses/ambushes/collections etc etc for as many mishes as the story in my head warrants.

4) Test arc missions.

5) Fill in as much text as I need or is allowable.

6) Test arc many times. Proofread.

7) Publish, enjoy.

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I read everything. But I do appreciate it when the author is concise. Just because a text box can fit 300 letters doesn't mean we have to use it all :-)

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I read it all. I've gotten a couple comments on my longest arc "Feet of Clay" that they didn't understand the appearance of someone in the mission. I tell them to read the souvenir, and then they get it. The follow up tells are always amusing.

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It was suggested to me today that I actually change the description of stock mobs to add some explanation of what they're doing in that particular mission. I can see the logic behind adding a little extra flavor text, especially if that's that faction's only appearance in the arc and I have the space to spare, but it still feels strange to me.

Part of me thinks that all relevant information can and should be communicated via clues etc. And part of me still twitches a bit at any of the now-common touches that say "This Is An MA Arc" rather than the style I'm trying to emulate, which is an official Dev-written arc that just happens to be accessed through the AE building rather than a contact on the street. On the other other hand, I worry that some (most?) people coming to the MA because they're tired of those old missions won't like new content that looks the same, even if it actually isn't.

*sigh* Comments?

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My characters at Virtueverse
Faces of the City

I read everything that I can. Playing a melee type, I'm usually in the thick of things so I don't have the time to read bios on custom mobs (or bios on any objective mobs that are dev-made). During combat pauses, I'll look at any Clues I've found, and I'll read the Souvenir at the end.

When I make an arc, I add text to all the options, including specific Click,interrupt, progress bar, and complete chat for glowies. I'm sure not everybody bothers to read that stuff (though I hope they at least look at the Clue), but if case they do, it's there. <_<

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Dungeoncleaners! (ID#125715): Slay the Adventurers! Rescue the Monsters! Return the Treasure!
Peppermint Cat-- Lv50 Mewtant Ice/Eng Bls

I'm like Pep, I customize everything I can.

Including stuff a lot of people would never really notice, like glowy interrupt text, or the contact "you're not done yet" spiel.

If you want to hide an easter egg, these are good places to do so.

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"City of Heroes. April 27, 2004 - August 31, 2012. Obliterated not with a weapon of mass destruction, not by an all-powerful supervillain... but by a cold-hearted and cowardly corporate suck-up."

I try to read it all, particularly when solo. And when writing, I try to fill it with good text. (Hint: On one of my missions, talk again to the contact after you got the mission but before you enter. Sometimes it's just utilitarian, but particularly for Dr. Aeon, I like having fun with that text.)

The problem with easter egg in the text when you're interacting with glowies is that only the person clicking it sees those. Which means soloers see it all, but in a team most people miss out.

It's also one reason I make sure that every mission has both a mission popup and a mission complete popup--a way to quickly summarize what this mission is about and what you just accomplished. It's one thing that every team member sees.

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My arcs are constantly shifting, just search for GadgetDon for the latest.
The world beware! I've started a blog
GadgetMania Under Attack: The Digg Lockout

[ QUOTE ]
It was suggested to me today that I actually change the description of stock mobs to add some explanation of what they're doing in that particular mission. I can see the logic behind adding a little extra flavor text, especially if that's that faction's only appearance in the arc and I have the space to spare, but it still feels strange to me.

Part of me thinks that all relevant information can and should be communicated via clues etc. And part of me still twitches a bit at any of the now-common touches that say "This Is An MA Arc" rather than the style I'm trying to emulate, which is an official Dev-written arc that just happens to be accessed through the AE building rather than a contact on the street. On the other other hand, I worry that some (most?) people coming to the MA because they're tired of those old missions won't like new content that looks the same, even if it actually isn't.

*sigh* Comments?

[/ QUOTE ]


When it comes to ratings, I think you extra points for taking the time to add these details - and they don't have to be much. In my arc, "Wicked, Wicked Wonderland" (#1224), for example, click on the Mad Hatter and all it says is, "This guy looks mad at everyone." Or click on Dweedledum and all it says is, "Dweededum, you see, looks just like Dweedledee." (or something like that.)

Give the amount of space we get, I don't think you can write up the entire history of your custom mobs, nor do I think in the heat of playing do people want a lot of copy to wade through. But I do think they enjoy being surprised or amused by finding the unexpected, imho.

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Enemy descriptions are difficult to read -- you have to target them, open a menu, and specifically pick 'description'. They aren't fed to you passively like mission intro/outtros, or behind a single click menu like clues.

Therefore, I treat them as niceties, extras, easter eggs, nothing more. I'll write custom descs, but often it'll just be a one line joke or some other comment about them. Occasionally I'll do some background info on that particular critter, but nothing critical, nothing you NEED to know -- just some enriching text. Can't rely on people reading it.

As for the rest, clues and intro/outtros and dialogue, those are must haves. I also go for redundancy; outtros and intros should summarize your most important talking points, in case people skipped the clues.

And as for people who never read anything and mindlessly zerg because they don't care about story and just want MOAR XP, they're not the ones I'm creating for, so I don't care if they miss out on the plot or get confused as to what's going on. The text is there for those who enjoy stories.

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Global @Twoflower / MA Creator & Pro Indie Game Developer.
Mission Architect Works: DIY Laser Moonbase (Dev Choice!), An Internship in the Fine Art of Revenge (2009 MA Award Winner!) and many more! Plus Brand New Arcs for Issue 21!

I tend to put very brief jokes into my mob descriptions. F.E. in my most recent arc, one enemy is an "American Woman". Her description? "Stay away from me!"

Clues seem to be team unfriendly: they are readable by the clicker, but do not appear for anyone else as far as I know.

This is why I consider the mission exit popup to be the single most valuable piece of text property in the MA. I always try to make mine contain a brief synopsis of the significance of the mission you just finished. It pops up for everybody, who has to look at it just to click it to make it go away.

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<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison

I think they changed that. I've run editing teams through my arc before and we all seemed to get the clues to read. Clues should be hinted at in pop ups for the clue-challenged, but I don't think anyone misses out on the clues themselves anymore.

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