ARC ID: 8925: Forget the Rose, Send Me the Thorns

Forget the Rose, Send Me the Thorns
ARC ID: 8925

Length: Medium (3 missions, 2 of them timed. This arc can easily be completed in under an hour)
Morality: Heroic (because the devs hate villains)
Genre: Supernatural Comedy (okay, just comedy, really)
Difficulty: Easy - Medium (due to custom groups, I recommend using higher level characters ... or "toons" if you must)
Solo Friendly: Yes (I've routinely soloed it on my lvl 50 Storm Defender, while on Heroic and while eating a sammich, without any trouble at all)

Description: The Oranbegan mage called Baktaxus has vital information that could save the world from imminent destruction! He's willing to give you that information... but only if you do a little favor for him first!

Feedback encouraged!

will run it now, if you have a chance run through 163834 it is a story arc based on a story you havent heard so there will be some elements that might seem unresolved. let me know if you see any obvious problems.

i cant believe you made me save chris jenkins. maub is nasty. i fought her without the help of back taxes and she just wouldt die. i had to go back and get him to help out.

Hey. Played your arc. I admit, I groaned when I first saw it was a timed mission, but thank you for warning and putting it in bold so that you could warn me.

The hook is a good one--and funny. As a blaster, I had a problem with the NPCs, especially when it's a timed mission and they're throwing psychic tornado and scream at you. I thought about suggesting a downgrade in powers, but realized that scrappers/others might have a better time of it than me.

I think "quickly" for the mission heading works better instead of "anon." JMHO.

(and did you ask permission to use a certain NPC? Because I think that NPC was used by somebody else. Just letting you know in case you get yelled at or something )

The Boss is WOW HARD, even at lvl 50. That electricity field. I managed to get out by the skin of my teeth!

Second Mission: "And you're done, nevermind!" (not exact wording) that made me chuckle. As well as the NPCs and the dialogue.

Nothing but good things to say about the third mission (lawyers, heh) and I was grateful to have some assistance in that (tough) fight with the EB.

5 Stars.

i was confused by "anon" as well. i didnt know what that meant

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i was confused by "anon" as well. i didnt know what that meant

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It's just another word for soon/quickly. It's more classical style (Shakespeare uses it )

Hey, thanks for the feedback! Glad you guys enjoyed it!

Couple points in response:

<ul type="square">[*] Maub will get a bit of a downgrade when we're allowed to drop individual powers from characters. She's definitely harder for some than she is for others (hence the presence of Baktaxus).[*] Baktaxus is quite fond of the word "anon"... fond in the way a Valley Girl is fond of "like". That's why it's in the mission heading. [/list]Again, thanks for playing!

LOVED this arc. Played it recently with a friend, and will play again and recommend it to others, anon!

Cool arc... just a few suggestions and comments:

Mission 1:
- The opening arc says I'm talking to this guy to "save the world". Hmmm, makes me wonder why a CoT would even be talking to me ... he is a villain after all. Maybe a little more of an intro about how I even heard of this guy and why I'm meeting with him.
- Way too many "!". Almost every sentence!!!!!
- ".... cramp a lot of plans ...", I guess that's something like crimping plans?

Chapter 2:
- One of the mission objectives is "Find a clue". You passed up an opportunity to have "Get a Clue" as an objective? Very disappointed.
- Almost every mob had a control power...
- The AV was a Lieutenant, maybe that was an intentional joke - I just wanted something a bit tougher.

Chapter 3:
- Banished Pantheon chatter: "... it's going to be the us...". I'd take "the" out.
- I was really expecting Chris Jenkins to be the demon, oh well...

Overall, plenty of enjoyable humor. The final chapter really cracked me up with all the npc chatter. Actually, I was thinking "where is the Nemesis plot" angle, when I finally ran into the Nemesis patrol. Just a little polish and I think this could be a top tier comedy arc.

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- The opening arc says I'm talking to this guy to "save the world". Hmmm, makes me wonder why a CoT would even be talking to me ... he is a villain after all. Maybe a little more of an intro about how I even heard of this guy and why I'm meeting with him.

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Okay! I imagine it went something like this...

* Objective: Learn About Doomsday Device (Defeat 30 Nemesis)
* Task Complete! Return to Contact!
* Contact: "They didn't know anything? That's a surprise! Well, okay then. Better go interrogate some Council!"
* New Objective: Learn about Doomsday Device (Defeat 40 Council)
* Task Complete! Return to Contact!
* Contact: "What, they didn't know anything either? Wow. But one of them suggested the Circle of Thorns? Huh. Well, okay, let's give it a whirl!"
* New Objective: Learn About Doomsday Device (Defeat 50 Circle of Thorns)
* Task Complete! Return to Contact
* Contact: "Now we're getting somewhere! But we'll have to crack this encryption spell in order to understand these messages. Better get these to Dr. Cheng in Independence Port.
* New Objective: Take Coded Messages to Dr. Cheng
* Task Complete!
* Dr. Cheng: "Yes, I can break this spell and decipher the text. But I was just about to bring this coffee to Miriam Bloechi. Perhaps you could bring it to her while I work on this for you."
* New Objective: Bring Coffee to Miriam Bloechi
* Task Complete!
* Miriam Bloech: "Thank you. It's delicious. Oh, I borrowed this pen from Dr. Cheng yesterday. You could return it to him for me..."
* New Objective: Take Pen to Dr. Cheng
* Dr. Cheng: "It appears a mage named "Baktaxus" is responsible for much of this correspondence."
* Task Complete! Return to Contact
* Contact: "Baktaxus? Never heard of him. But, hey, any excuse to crack some more heads, right?"
* New Objective: Find Baktaxus (Defeat 60 Circle of Thorns)
* Task Complete! Return to Contact
* Contact: "Wow, this guy is obscure! Maybe try the Thorns out on the islands?"
* New Objective: Find Baktaxus (Defeat 75 Circle of Thorns in Talos Island)
* Task Complete! Return to Contact
* Contact: "Finally! Better go get this guy, time's wasting. Hey, you've been a pretty good sport in all of this. Here's my phone number."
* New Objective: Defeat Baktaxus and Minions
* (Baktaxus is found in a "Purple Caves" map, in the multi-tiered "Cake Room". Defeating him takes 20 minutes. 19 of those minutes are spent trying to get him unstuck from the wall).

...There ya go!

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- Way too many "!". Almost every sentence!!!!!

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Of course!

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- ".... cramp a lot of plans ...", I guess that's something like crimping plans?

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Wow.

Y'know, the development of this arc started on Test, during the open beta. I've looked at that text over and over again and played thru the arc a bazillion times now. Many others have played thru it as well, including a professional editor.

That typo has been there since the beginning, and you're the first one who's caught it. Good job!

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- Almost every mob had a control power...

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They're all identical, so they all have it. Buckshot, I think it is. It'll get yanked when they let us remove individual powers. Those guys are supposed to be complete pushovers. I think I watered them down as much as the current system allows.

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- The AV was a Lieutenant, maybe that was an intentional joke

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Yes. The character is named 'The Arch Villain'. He apparently thinks too much of himself.

The challenge of that mission is meant to be the time limit. The mobs are quite intentionally not challenging.

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Just a little polish and I think this could be a top tier comedy arc.

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Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for catching the typos. Particularly that very elusive one that's dodged capture since the very beginning!

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LOVED this arc. Played it recently with a friend, and will play again and recommend it to others, anon!

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Yay! \o/

Thought of one more thing .... you have a contact named Baxtacus ... which just cries out for a few evil IRS agents somewhere in the arc.

There are quite a few things I'd like to add.

Sadly, the arc file currently sits at 99.don'teventhinkaboutshovingsomethingelseinhere%

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Just chiming in here to say that I love this arc. Carry on.

What event?

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What event?

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The arc!

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i cant believe you made me save chris jenkins.

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Oh, by the way...

You might wanna listen to this.

/stamps the arc with his Seal of Approval

Great ARC... but seriously with all the creative energy you put into this arc why not come up with an original title?

While I realize that titles can not be copyrighted, you cheapen both the original work and your own creation.

The only feedback I have (having not run this) is that it reminded me to setup my bookshelves in the office tonight. I have this book somewhere in a box &gt;.&gt;

Love the title. And the poster is really cool. I'll have to try this arc.

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Love the title.

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Seconded. I thought it was funny even before I learned the reference, and I still like it.

Helpful Playing Tip:

If anything in the first mission of this arc gives you trouble, use those crystals to your advantage! It's a big reason why I used that map.