[ QUOTE ]
Alright, I will do one tomorrow, chosen randomly from those who have actually want it right now.
[/ QUOTE ]
how are you going to pick, die roll?
Pick me, pick me, pick me.
Thank you for not quitting this great idea.
First, I love the idea of a video review.
Here's my feedback:
I would seriously consider editing down the video after you're done to remove the filler. You happened to quit on the first mission here, but think about how long this would have been if you'd played all the missions in a 5 mission arc. A review, I feel, should give a short summary of how you feel about a piece. 6 - 7 minutes tops. You wouldn't call MST3K a movie review show, right?
Another thing I'd do, is once you read through the mission text (and no, I don't think you should read the mission text out loud - just edit out the part where you're reading it to yourself) you should give a specific summary of your opinion, more specific than just, "OOOOOK, whatever," or, "huh, cool." Something like, "the plot here doesn't make much sense," or, "that was really well written dialog." Things like that.
The last thing I noticed is a bit of a nit: it's a review of the arc, not your character. There were a few times where you commented on how much you liked your character, or a specific power, or whatever. But the people watching the review want to know if the arc is worthwhile, not whether your powerset is (although that could be a valid topic for a separate video). But having said that I don't think it's a big deal if you throw in a few, "Heh, I love doing that"s, or that type of thing.
I do think it's a great idea. I just think you have to play around with the format until you get it right. I say keep at it and try to improve it with each review. Keep in mind no one's done this before, exactly.
bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonner-
ronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenth ur-
nuk!
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would seriously consider editing down the video after you're done to remove the filler. You happened to quit on the first mission here, but think about how long this would have been if you'd played all the missions in a 5 mission arc. A review, I feel, should give a short summary of how you feel about a piece. 6 - 7 minutes tops. You wouldn't call MST3K a movie review show, right?
[/ QUOTE ]
While I agree that editing out the "empty space" in an Arc is a good idea, 6-7 minutes for an entire Arc seems a bit too short 
I'd say, start with about 5 minutes each mission. If it's a simple, straightforward mission that doesn't need alot of commentary, you can cut it down to to 1-3 minutes. If it's a complex, engrossing mission, you can bump it up to 7-9 minutes.
Of course, Stomphoof has the final say on this 
Supplemental Galactic Protectorate Fanfic
I agree that the entire mission doesn't need to be caught on video (or at least in the final cut.) Maybe a couple of groups for filler, or sped up. What really matters is the clues, the contact's text, and the customs (bosses or groups), to be reviewed. Maybe everything if the mission was a defeat-all, but sped up, to show how long it takes..
I really do like the idea of this, Stomphoof. Keep at it!
(qr) My opinions/suggestions.
Play the mission normally and record that, don't worry about the commentary until post-production. This will allow you to focus more on the mission on hand and not have to worry about thinking of filler commentary on the fly.
Skip longer parts of the mission, but still spend some time fighting the random mobs, since it gives a good baseline of what the mission plays like, as well as how strong the reviewing character is, so we can compare it to boss fights or other missions.
Show all boss fights as well as the moments leading up to it (unless it's a mission with a bazillion bosses, in which case a cheesy clip show routine may be in order).
When skipping around the mission, the minimap is a good tool, because it can help you show how much time has passed between a skip. Show a shot of the minimap with only the first room done, then fade to a shot of the entire map revealed. Voice over with something like: "five minutes later, still no sign of the glowie..." Of course, speeding up the action works too. Also gives you an excuse to throw some Yakety Sax in there.
Loading screens and mission descriptions (which we have a hard time reading ourselves due to the video compression) should definitely be skipped. But for the mission intros, I suggest you give a summary and a commentary as you're fighting through the start of the mission (which you should show to give the baseline mission playability, as I mentioned above). The summary can be as long or as short as you want, but it means you can avoid having to fill dead air with things that don't matter (such as your character's performance).
On the note above... your character's level and general ability level is worth noting, but don't elaborate so much on it. Near the start (or at some point, anyway) mention what your character is, since it gives the viewer an explanation for how good - or how poorly - you're performing. An example of a short description (using one of my own characters) would be something like "The character I'm running this on is a level 50 blaster, with more IOs than anyone really needs. He's a little overpowered, but this mission drops him down to 30, so let's see how that works out..."
I am gonna wait till later this week to do another one. This is my 1 day off till next saturday, and I want to enjoy it all day playing my Elec/WP Brute (The MA Only Experiment Character)
I know that I'm new here on the boards, but here goes with my $.02, FWIW.
This video review idea is a great one! I really hope you will continue to do it. One of the biggest problems that I saw in the video was the fact that you were jumping around, willy nilly, instead of taking your time to really search the whole map. If you were just doing it for yourself and that's how you like to play a mission, then that's all well and good. But, since your aim is to do a review and have other people view it, it makes it very chaotic trying to keep track of what is going on and what direction I'm looking while I'm watching you bounce around all over the place.
Perhaps, trying to stay on the floor and run around in a basic search pattern might be much more helpful to you in finding things, and for the people that are watching you search. I think you might have been trying to run through it too quickly. As people have already said, editing out some of the searching might be a good idea, too. That way, the length of the mission video won't turn into an hour+ if it's a long arc.
The other thing that I noticed was that you're either a speed reader, or you didn't read the entire text from the contact. It was rather long. There might have been a hint there that you should be looking for 'files'. I didn't notice if there was nav text that indicated that, either. I couldn't really read the text because of the quality of the video, but that can't be helped, unless it was because your video settings were very low.
I think the nav text is an important tool that needs to be used by anyone creating a mission that has glowies. It helps the player to understand exactly what they're looking for and what needs to be completed. If there wasn't any nav text, then I don't blame you for being frustrated in trying to find the objective of the mission. It also helps if that text is a color that stands out so it's easily seen.
Overall, I think this whole idea is excellent, and with a little more tweaking could be very helpful for people looking for a good mission to play. Maybe you were just nervous because it was your first attempt at doing it. I have had my share of encounters with stage fright to know that it can have some very negative effects on performance. Hopefully, you won't be as nervous the next time around. 
No AV/EBs Deal with The Devil's Pawn-207266 Slash DeMento and the Stolen Weapons-100045 Meet the Demon Spawn-151099 Feedback
I'd still like you to review my arc, thanks. It's only 3 missions, if that helps.
99458: The Unbearable Being of Lightness
191775: How the Other Half Lives
My Webcomics
I'm good with you reviewing mine. I've got thick skin and if you don't like the arc, it won't kill me.
I like the video review idea, it gives ppl a look at the arc so they can see if they like the look or feel of the arc and the stream of conciousness feel of the review gives some instant feedback. For good or ill.
hey just wondering if this is still happening cause I was looking forward to it.
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Alright the first video, for Mandu's "The Dev's Must Die" is up
You can view it in one of 2 places:
http://www.blip.tv/file/2120614 Here (My BlipTV Page)
or
http://www.oneangrygamer.com (My Gaming Website)
Take your pick and enjoy!
[/ QUOTE ]
Hate to tell ya...but I saw you hop past the glowie twice while watching it. You were kind of impatient, so went right past it.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Alright the first video, for Mandu's "The Dev's Must Die" is up
You can view it in one of 2 places:
http://www.blip.tv/file/2120614 Here (My BlipTV Page)
or
http://www.oneangrygamer.com (My Gaming Website)
Take your pick and enjoy!
[/ QUOTE ]
Hate to tell ya...but I saw you hop past the glowie twice while watching it. You were kind of impatient, so went right past it.
[/ QUOTE ]
My bad...didn't know others had pointed it out.
To make up for it, I want to review your first review attempt
I love the way the video is put together...that title intro and music rocked...very well done.
I didn't see a lot of review though. You basically ran through the mission as fast as possible, killing everything in sight, and if you read the NPC text, you did it to yourself and voiced no opinion on it.
I actually didn't like how you judged the mission based on an uncontrolable factor. The designer cannot control a bugged collection placement (which it actually wasn't).
That said, just like the missions themselves, doing the video reviews can be a learning process.
One thing I liked was that you were fairly engaging, talking during the fighting and mostly not letting people get bored because of no talking.
I certainly think you should continue doing the reviews, but also be willing to learn ways to improve as you go. Do that, and you could be onto something.
[ QUOTE ]
First, I love the idea of a video review.
Here's my feedback:
I would seriously consider editing down the video after you're done to remove the filler. You happened to quit on the first mission here, but think about how long this would have been if you'd played all the missions in a 5 mission arc. A review, I feel, should give a short summary of how you feel about a piece. 6 - 7 minutes tops. You wouldn't call MST3K a movie review show, right?
Another thing I'd do, is once you read through the mission text (and no, I don't think you should read the mission text out loud - just edit out the part where you're reading it to yourself) you should give a specific summary of your opinion, more specific than just, "OOOOOK, whatever," or, "huh, cool." Something like, "the plot here doesn't make much sense," or, "that was really well written dialog." Things like that.
The last thing I noticed is a bit of a nit: it's a review of the arc, not your character. There were a few times where you commented on how much you liked your character, or a specific power, or whatever. But the people watching the review want to know if the arc is worthwhile, not whether your powerset is (although that could be a valid topic for a separate video). But having said that I don't think it's a big deal if you throw in a few, "Heh, I love doing that"s, or that type of thing.
I do think it's a great idea. I just think you have to play around with the format until you get it right. I say keep at it and try to improve it with each review. Keep in mind no one's done this before, exactly.
[/ QUOTE ]
These are great suggestions...on the one comment about him talking about his own character, I don't agree though...having a full mission review means having to talk constantly, and if you're facing the same groups of mobs multiple times, you sort of run out of things to say...rambling is pretty much the only solution.
HOWEVER, I think your point about editing it down is a very good one. I personally think Editing it down to 3 minutes would work...maybe 4 at most.
You don't want to show so much of it that the readers here have surprises spoiled...and editing it down will allow you to stop...read the comments, read descriptions and such...and then simply comment on your likes and dislikes of each, without revealing too much of the content.
This is a great idea...and if you can get this down you could become a celeb on this forum.
If I knew how to capture video in this game, I wouldn't mind giving a couple tries at the video reviews myself, to be honest. COuld never make a regular commitment though...too much time spent running a business AND an active SG...and making misisons...and base editing (it's coming Envee, I swear!).
[ QUOTE ]
If I knew how to capture video in this game, I wouldn't mind giving a couple tries at the video reviews myself, to be honest. COuld never make a regular commitment though...too much time spent running a business AND an active SG...and making misisons...and base editing (it's coming Envee, I swear!).
[/ QUOTE ]
Program called Fraps. Look it up. Captures most video games.
Use Windows Movie Maker to do the editing for cheaps. Thats what I did.
Nice to see you're still watching the thread Stomp. I want to say that I loved the way you did the first review(minus the not seeing the glowie), with all the commentary and everything. It's hard to say whether or not you should cut out segments of your review because, for the viewer, it gives a good sense of how long, mindless, and boring a "Big map for no reason" is.
Anyway, I hope to see more of your work, and I hope to see more Brutin' with commentary.
[ QUOTE ]
Nice to see you're still watching the thread Stomp. I want to say that I loved the way you did the first review(minus the not seeing the glowie), with all the commentary and everything. It's hard to say whether or not you should cut out segments of your review because, for the viewer, it gives a good sense of how long, mindless, and boring a "Big map for no reason" is.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well that could be accomplished with selective editing. If you want to point out a map that is long or annoying in some manner, then have a portion that illustrates that. However, if there are unimportant "I'm fighting some guys" parts as you head to the objective and there's really nothing important to say, then cut it.
Another thing that may be a good idea is instead of recording the audio live as you play it, simply have a tape recorder sitting near you, so you can make comments about what you're doing at the time for future reference, and after you edit the video down, record a new audio track for the review that's more concise and only deals with the important things based off the audio notes you took.
I really like the idea of an audio review. It's a really useful tool to show your audience what you mean by something instead of just describing it. One of the reasons I prefer say, X-Play or Gametrailers reviews as opposed to like video game magazine reviews.
hey i could not decide where to post this. your first review thread is dead it seems and your follow up thread for your new arc id is empty. so i figured i would post here.
Arc Name: Return of the Three Fold King
Arc ID:163274
i ran this mission arc with the locksmith of love, my level 33 ILL/RAD controller, on heroic.
some observations and stuff that i saw as i played through your arc...
mission 1
is the professor a coward? does he have no powers? who is he? why should i trust him? especially if i am going to bring him an "item of power?"
found? by whom? if it has been sitting there long enough for you to put an ad in the times, why hasn't it been taken away?
is it mythology is you recover an actual artifact? lemuria is considered a myth, but if there is an actual artifact that is something different. then you are studying history...
i think it was a battle between COT and foot soldiers. the COT says... "oh great it is $name" this maybe a patrol triggering something too early...
foot soldier description says... "prove themselves to their dark gods, and they generals"
in the description of the depth lord is says he is after the mace too... what mace?
where did the clue come from? the depthlord? did he drop the runestone? was it in his pocket?
i counted at least three patrols, that i never met but saw their text. the text assumes that you meet the patrol, by using the $name. not once did i meet a patrol. they were all dead before i got to them... i saw one COT in the mission.
ah i see that i was right in not trusting him in the first place. why should i trust this guy and further help him? he has already proven himself untrustworthy? why should i countinue?
mission 2
i do not need to defeat the leader, but i have to go and defeat another boss anyways? why am i stealing it from the tuatha? why am i doing the dirty work for the contact? ah i see, for a clue... on the other leader.
but in the clue, why is he carrying the crumpled page from his own diary? or is it someone elses? the preist's...
but doesn't breaking the shield around the king sound kind of like releasing him? so, am i being played for the fool here? why am i helping this guy?
mission 3
i love how he says "we," when i have done all the work for him and he has not done a thing! he maybe powerless against the lemurians, but he could help. pick up a damn gun!
how do i know the combination to the safe? and why would the stone be mixed in with some files? kind of careless... for the legacy chain. what is it doing there in the first place? ah i see the safe combo clue now... but why would they tell you this and give you the stone? i guess i had time to stop and explain everything and to convince them to give me their combo.
your clue for the stone is very different than the exit mission pop up... and there is no punctuation at the end of the pop up...
mission 4
i am really getting sick of doing this guys dirty work. take out all the leaders for me while you are there, kind of thing. all while he "investigates..."
in the nav bar it says... "3 crate ," and also find the runestone... so why am i searching the crates again?
why does the arachnos negotiator say "Oh great its Locksmith of Love! I heard of them!" note the typos too. why not use $himher? that way you could get i have heard of him...
so am i to assume that either the statue or the amulet is the runestone? since they were in separate boxes and i did not notice which came first for the runstone... a bit confusing. niether clue really mentions a stone. though the statue seems to meet the exit pop up more. the contact talks about a stone? what stone? i have a statue and an amulet. and where is this mace mentioned in the first mission? what is the object that is not the runestone, niether of them seem very important or informative.
mission 5
"fate of the world?" i have yet to see anything that would convince me of this...why am i helping this guy?
after finishing 4 missions for this guy he still has not explained who the 3 fold king is, or why he is called that.
in the 3 fold king's description he it sas he has been studying for centuries but his death statement says he "just woke up..." which is it?
why was he searching for the runestones for himself anyways? why now? all he would need is one runestone, anyways, if that was his weakness...
the king came from the ether?
analysis
ok, you have an interesting story going on here and it has a lot of potential. i liked the custom toons. the custom groups were not that difficult on heroic, i hardly ever had a problem with them. not even the king. was he an EB? there was no EB warning if he was. i did not see many typos either, one or two here or there. though some of your sentences run on and need better punctuation. not my cup of tea, though... you need to do what i always do... hassle one of your friends to fully edit it for you. but anyways... the interesting story and the nice costumes do not make up for a lot of problems. i am glad i wrote everything down as i went along because i would have never been able to remember it all. you have many plot holes and loose ends.
the first problem is a big problem. you will start to see it in my comments right off. it is the primary motivation for doing all of this stuff in this arc. why am i helping this guy? why should i trust him? how do i know he is being straight shooter? he already admits decieving me after the first mission... so i am supposed to recover objects of power for a guy that starts out by decieving me? i know i supposedly answered his ad, but i would have walked away pretty much as soon as he said "i would go myself, but it is crawling with COT..." this has warning bells written all over it, i am pretty stupid to fall for a story of some guy claiming that there will be an invasion and the only way to help against this alledged bad guy is to recover four objects of power for him... and take out all of the contact's enemies while i am at it. all the while he is probably sipping tea and laughing at my foolishness. seriously. i have to be a pretty big sucker to fall for such a thing. it defies my common sense. you need some serious reworking on my primary motivation to make me do all this for some stranger. at least tell me that the guy from the midnighter club vouches for this otherwise crackpot. something needs to be done with this, because i was annoyed by the whole scenario for the whole arc. why am i doing this guy's dirty work? he did not even bother to betray me!
the next problem is your original justification. why is the king trying to recover the runes? why now? where is he coming from? why is it that he is always just a little bit too late? or am i too late? where is the contact getting all this information right now? if the contact knows where all these things were why did he not recover them before the lemurians get on the scene? yes it makes me go from one mission to the next, maybe with a sense of urgency... but it is all too convenient. he asks for someone to get this thing from a cave, just when i go the bad guys are there, about to walk off with it. it has been there for a while, why then? coincidence? so then the contact gets information for the next one, and surprise... the bad guys are already there! i go to the next place and who should happen to be there? it is all too coincidental, all too convenient. why now? why all at once? why are they trying to recover the stones anyways? why am i try to help this guy? how do i know he is not the bad guy here?
i don't know... i could go on and on, but i think that would be counterproductive. you have a good story, but these two problems that i brought up drove me crazy. there were a bunch of other things that i mentioned in my comments. i am sorry if this seems too negative, but i am not telling you throw out the baby with the bathwater. it just has some serious problems that you need to tighten up. i am not even sure the ending was very satisfying. it did not answer my questions, most of the ones that i asked up above. i had hoped it would all tie together in the end. it did not. if you did some heavy rebuilding of this mission i would be happy to run it again.
now after all that... i would ask you to review my Hero Therapy (TM) arc id:119228. if you want to review it and give me feedback i would appreciate it. if you want to make a video review of it that would be great. your choice.
Do YOU have nightmares about the Vahzilok? Can't sleep because you failed to defeat that Boss over and over again? Do you let your teammates down because you run away from Malta sappers? Do clowns make you have an anxiety attack? Try HERO Therapy (TM)! Start Today! 4 EASY sessions! (1EB,1AV)
Please give this arc a try... you probably need to. Only 5(!) easy payments! You will not regret it!
*Small print* Failure to complete this arc may result in impotence, baldness, general ridicule from children, a lessening of EXP earning potential, and an overall decline of self respect. For further details contact ridiculous girl. Money will not be refunded under any condition.
global: ridiculous girl
Hero Therapy! (TM) - 119228
welcome to donut world - 1233
by the way, you should continue with the videos. i think that one was great. i reviewed that arc too. i did not like it, but for different reasons. i did not have the troubles that you did. while i could hear the blinky, there are times that someone cannot hear such things. i hardly ever have the sound on, sometimes it might not be possible to use the sound. that map is a nightmare for kill alls and blinky hunts. mandu should not have berated you for not finding it. he should have admitted that there was a problem with the map and adjusted. while i had not read all the posts on this thread, i would hate to see it die out. it is a great idea and truthfully i wish you would do more than one a week. i would love to see mine played by someone else. seeing it through your eyes would be extremely helpful. if you had to quit on the first mission i would not blame you but try to figure out what i could do to prevent that. then i would ask you to try again.
keep going. i want to see my arc reviewed on video.
global: ridiculous girl
Hero Therapy! (TM) - 119228
welcome to donut world - 1233
[ QUOTE ]
Mandu should not have berated you for not finding it. he should have admitted that there was a problem with the map and adjusted.
[/ QUOTE ]
Although I'll admit I got a bit angrier than the review warranted, in this you are completely wrong. The glowie wasn't hidden. It was in fact visible and audible in the video multiple times. If the glowie had been in a corner or some such and never visible then I would agree and likely change the map. But it wasn't, and hasn't been in the various times that I actually tested and fine tuned the mission.
If instead he had gone in with his toggles turned off and been beaten by the Crey and then quit because the mission was overpowered then should I lower the difficulty of the mobs?
If I put it in one of the warehouses that has the bay doors that slide open and he didn't open one of those doors then is it a problem with the map?
A mistake made by a player doesn't equate to there being a problem with the mission.
I'll admit that having the review be a video one does have some advantage. If the reviewer complains about a problem with the mission then it's possible to see if the mission actually did have a problem or if the reviewer made a mistake.
And actually my going off on him like that will most likely prove beneficial to Stomphoof's future reviews. He's more likely to pay closer attention to the mission because he knows that his mistakes will be visible to anybody who watches the video so he will base his comments and reviews on actuality rather than assumption.
I offer up my apologies to Stomphoof though. I just got extremely angry that he gave my mission a bad review and rating based on his play style rather than on the mission's actual merits. Venture rated it 2 stars because he didn't get the humor and considered the parody of the Devs to be some sort of gaming blasphemy or something. And I don't care about that at all because it's his honest opinion.
Don't count your weasels before they pop dink!
Count me in as another who really thinks you should continue with these reviews and not let one bad apple spoil the bunch. I felt that you gave Mandu an honest, more-than-fair chance and that he was entirely ungracious about it. Heck, you spent twenty minutes on one mission despite having made clear your distaste for Defeat All missions and Cargo Ship maps at the very beginning. And then offered to give it another run in the future.
Not all of us are so petty and unappreciative. So if and when you can get around to it, I'd like to submit my mission arc, Queen of the Jinn (#140298, see sig for description). It's a fairly challenging heroic arc, so I'd suggest playing Mikahl Zarak (or Rumble Shock if you don't mind playing a villain through "hero" content). Generally I'd suggest the mission for characters of level 40-50, but for a Willpower character playing at the lowest difficulty, I suspect it won't be that much of a problem (Though if it is, it'll be great to have some honest feedback about it along with video evidence to help me decide what changes need to be made).
Arc Name:A father's iron will
Arc ID :198952
Faction:An overly serious/ dramatic Custom Group
Creator Global/Forum Name:@Kemli
Difficulty Level:Moderate to Hard. Multiple EBs possible, AV.
Synopsis:Simple arc where a girl has been kidnapped and it's up to you to rescue her.Try to keep your allies alive, they come in handy.
Other notes: Despite the multiple EB's,Lt's and minions,the arc is soloable,however it's probably more fun and is optimised for a team.
Pinnacle & Virtue:
A bunch of Heroes - Alpha Team, Legion of Order.
A bunch of Villains -Black Citadel , Pinnache.
I tried both your arcs Thalomarre and had to give up because 5 defeat all missions in a row does not make an arc.
What's that you say?
They aren't defeat alls?
Neither is mine. Once again Stomphoof made an assumption that was incorrect. The first mission is click one glowie, defeat one boss. And the cargo ship is the short one with 3 and a half rooms and was picked specifically because it was the smallest number of rooms of any map with the exception of the casinos.
Don't count your weasels before they pop dink!
I don't mind you still reviewing my arc.
Dungeoncleaners! (ID#125715): Slay the Adventurers! Rescue the Monsters! Return the Treasure!
Peppermint Cat-- Lv50 Mewtant Ice/Eng Bls