Venture's Reviews IV: The Search for Part III
By
Aces_High,
Posted on: 2009-07-01 15:15 in Mission Architect
[ QUOTE ]
Arc #177826, "Lights, Camera, Scream!"
tl;dr: 1 star. Offenses: no plot but still throws the Idiot Ball, Killer GM
Reviewed on: 7/16/2009
Level Range: 25-54
Architect's Keywords: Challenging, Custom Characters, Horror
My Keywords: Same
Character used: Agent Cerulean/Justice
"Carrie S. Hutters", a filmmaker, wants your help in making a short "holo-film" about vampires. As part of the research for a larger film effort, she wants you to head into a vampire enclave and retrieve both a specimen and a diary, all while wearing a mini-camera and microphone. This takes you to the Midnighter's map to fight a few custom mobs, none of which are particularly noteworthy. You do find the diary, but the Clues say you get a sample of the boss vampire's flesh (the defeat text says "blood") and there's another Clue about Carrie being involved with the Council that makes absolutely no sense at this point. All she says in the debriefing is "Fantastic job! We'll definately keep you in mind for our next flick." OK.....
The next flick turns out to be "A Dozen Deadly Roses", a story about a jilted bride cursing her married friends and causing wacky supernatural hijinks involving her reanimated victims and all the brides or prospective or former brides in the area. You're sent in to retrieve the wedding rings of the victims and break the curse. You have to fight six parties of triggered spawns on the burning Hellions office map, meaning you have to run all over the place. All of the mobs are Lieutenants with Regen and they all resurrect on death. This was tedious enough for the arc to hit one star right there. The Clues also mention the Council again, and again there is not one single Council mob on the map.
The next one is "Frat Party Massacre", in which a frat party held at a graveyard (are people really that stupid in Paragon City?) You're to go in and clean up the inevitable zombie attack, paying particular attention to the "B'arat Triplets". These turn out to be "Brats", Plant Control/Dark Miasma (I think, not sure) Bosses, surrounded by large groups of frat-themed zombies with annoying powers. You're on one of the fog-covered graveyard maps too; fortunately the Brats have bright pnk auras making them fairly easy to spot from the air. Again the clues mention the Council. The entire final debriefing is: " You're beautiful. We like the way you work; we'll be starting our next set of films soon and we'll call you. . . for real, we will." That's it. There's an extremely perfunctory souvenir.
The arc has no plot but still managed to throw the Idiot Ball thanks to the Council references. It is really nothing more than a shooting gallery of cliched, uninteresting and overpowered custom mobs. Skip it.
[/ QUOTE ]
It is supposed to be a cliche B-rate set of horror flicks (as stated); which is typically all idiot ball-type stuff (and hokey).
The Council are the producers; not supposed to be in the thick. Was hoping there was enough allusion w/o actually having to point it out. (player never encounters them... but Carrie does...)
It was supposed to be more play-oriented than story-centric and I do realize that the second arc was a bit stout (hence; the 40-50 (i think) level range recommendation); but it shouldn't have been impossible for a Melee-type , or competent team, of that range [and the the player is rewarded well for that chapter (kinda making up for the weak rewards from the other 2).]
[Note: The brides were originally standard Bosses that I could solo w/ a /WP brute; the I15 custom option meant that I was actually able to reduce their original attack chain... the only thing I think they got from the Regen was Fast Healing [forced] and the self rez (doubling the spawn without actually having to double it); this mission was actually toned down quite a bit.]
[Note: I wondered if the trigger arrangement for the second mission would throw things off... wasn't there originally but having the triggers actually helped in nixing the problem of multiple mob aggro (especially given this particular mob); will change, I think]
The third mission was hokey zombie-mobbing fun, which has probably been done to death, but hey, it's a B-flick. Zombies are [] limited in what they're supposedly able to do. They use MM Necromancy, for more zombies [of course] and a minimal melee attack chain (wish I could've axed any secondary entirely); giving the cheerleader zombies pink pom-poms.
About it being in a foggy graveyard? Why would a zombie frat party be anywhere else? [Same with the Midnighter club as the vampire lair; sure it's the Midnighter map but for intents and purposes, it's just another somwhat gothic backdrop for a vampire hangout.]
[Note: Note: With the exception of the second mission; I could solo a squishy somewhat decently through the arc]
Sorry you didn't like it and I see your stance (and agree); I just think we're viewing it from 2 different contexts.
Cheers!
*further edited for clarity and typos... which are still there, lol.
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
Arc #171149, "A helping hand can lead to broken fingers"
tl;dr: 3 stars. Offenses: "just a bunch of stuff that happened", canon issues, weak plot
Reviewed on: 7/16/2009
Level Range: 1-54/1-54/35-54
Architect's Keywords: None
My Keywords: Challenging, Magic, Horror
Character used: Agent Cerulean/Justice
"Drawback", a custom Contact who says he works for Vanguard, rather abusively asks for your help dealing with some kind of creature attack in the sewers. There may be some rookie heroes trapped down there still. The place turns out to be infested with some demonic-looking entities, led by a "Mysterious Woman", Lieutenant strength, who went on about not being ready and such. There are also several newbie heroes to rescue, some of which (along with the Big Bad) trigger ambushes. When you return you're told the Big Bad regained consciousness on the way to the hospital and escaped, which is of course your fault.
She turns up in Kings Row, having thrown some Skulls out of their hideout. Drawback has consulted with Dark Watcher on the case, who says her name is "Voxxa" and now that you "bear her mark" you'll have to fight her. Or...what? Anyway...Drawback has already sent in "Swingarm", you're to catch up and take Voxxa down. This one's on the burning Skulls map. Voxxa is in the top room and she runs on engagement. Since the elevator is only a few feet away, unless you can hold or root a Boss she's going to get away.
For the last act, Voxxa has been tracked to the RWZ. It seems she's an old enemy of the Dark Watcher and is looking for him. Unfortunately he's not in our dimension at the moment. You have to stop her before she gets any stronger, and you're told to "send her to Hell". This might have some ethical issues for the Code Versus Killing crowd, but on the other hand she is a demon. You're sent to one of the Vanguard base maps (the outdoor ones), with Vanguard versus Rikti versus Voxxa and her crew. It wasn't too hard to spot her from the air, now AV/EB strength. Her expanded bio says she was once a lover of Anansi the Spider, but he tricked her into a prison dimension. Once every so often she's released for a year; if in that time she can kiss Anansi she wins her freedom. It is implied that the Dark Watcher is Anansi, which constitutes Canon Defilement. You take her down, the end.
It's a short arc with not much too it. Ain't half bad, ain't half good neither.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
Oversight: I had the level range begin at 25; changed it to 38.
Apparently, I play "City of Shakespeare"
*Arc #95278-Gathering the Four Winds -3 step arc; challenging - 5 Ratings/3 Stars (still working out the kinks)
*Arc #177826-Lights, Camera, Scream! - 3 step arc, camp horror; try out in 1st person POV - 35 Ratings/4 Stars
Venture, how come you never mention the name of the author in your reviews?
Issue 16 made me feel like this.
Warning: This poster likes to play Devil's Advocate.
[ QUOTE ]
Venture, how come you never mention the name of the author in your reviews?
[/ QUOTE ]
Does it matter? Anyone interested could easily find that information.
Goodbye, I guess.
@Lord_Nightblade in Champions/Star Trek Online
nightblade7295@gmail.com if you want to stay in touch
It'd be even easier if the name was in the post.
Issue 16 made me feel like this.
Warning: This poster likes to play Devil's Advocate.
[ QUOTE ]
It'd be even easier if the name was in the post.
[/ QUOTE ]
It's easier for you to type @username than it is to copy and paste the arc id number? 
You know if it's such a big deal for you, you could quote him and write in the usernames yourself. I'm just saying, it's easy to tell someone to do something but doing it yourself often changes your perspective.
Venture, how come you never mention the name of the author in your reviews?
Because I'm reviewing the arc, not the Architect.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
Arc #67356, "Shadow Initiation"
tl;dr: 4 stars. Offenses: "just a bunch of stuff that happens", some plot issues, low text content
Reviewed on: 7/17/2009
Level Range: 15-40
Architect's Keywords: Solo Friendly, Canon Related, Drama
My Keywords: Challenging, Magic
Character used: Agent Cerulean/Justice
"Elder Dark Sation" offers you a chance to undergo a simulation of the initiation procedure for "Darks", the Jounin rank in her ninja clan. All proceeds go to charity, of course (that being the Elder Dark Retirement Fund, I'd wager....) You're warned both in the first briefing and the browser that this is intended for a team. The first "Physical Trial" requires you to retrieve a scroll and activate a portal on the outdoor Talos coastline map. You're warned to clear the area of the Tsoo first. I found very few Tsoo spawns (one a spurious Boss), and they were in a custom faction also employing Nerva Spectrals. I cleared them out then clicked on the scroll. This caused a few more Tsoo to spawn along with "Dark Sation", described as a shadow version of the Contact, an Ice Assault/Ninjitsu Boss with two guards. After clearing them I clicked the portal, which triggered an ambush of "Ancestral Shades" but also ended the mission. On your return Sation says she's impressed but during the trial the Tsoo made off with some of the clan's students. This seems a bit out of place for a training simulation but moving on....
You're sent to a casino map to rescue one of the students and to deal with any Tsoo present. Sation makes it clear any Tsoo captured will be extreme renditioned. Rescuing the student triggers the spawn of a Tsoo Boss, who smacks you with a hefty ambush before gnawing the carpet. This leads directly to a rescue attempt for the rest of the students. The briefing says this takes place in an office; you're actually sent to an abandoned warehouse. Dark Sation appears in the mission as an EB Ally, with no guards, and with Ninjitsu, meaning I just blundered into her and suddenly had an EB along sucking up all the tickets. This was not appreciated. I ditched her by parking her behind a crate and teleporting off the map. There are a few students to rescue and "Moonless Night", a Necromancy/Shield Defense EB for the big bad (using the "dark" shield model, very striking). He put up a bit of a fight, scoring a last-minute DOT that had me hitting a green to prevent a Pyrrhic victory. You get a fairly perfunctory thank you on return.
Next up is the "Test of Stealth", requiring you to steal a number of magical tokens from a Tsoo base. There is no "stealth" involved really as you're pretty much going to have to take out the Tsoo near the glowies at least. There are six tokens plus a "peculiar" token, which triggers a silent Rocks Fall Everyone Dies ambush when retrieved. Otherwise the map is pretty straighforward.
For your last task, you are to use the "peculiar token" (which is a sort of mystic key) to enter a Tsoo hideout and kill "Burning Eclipse", an enemy of the clan. Yes, it specifies kill, but this is a Neutral mission. There's a bodyguard, "Passing Night" to dispose of to trigger Eclipse's spawn, who is herself an EB, and a "Ninja Girl" to rescue. You learn after defeating Passing Night that she was the sister of the Ninja Girl with a case of Plot Induced Amnesia. I took down the Big Bad (whose info describes him as tracing his lineage to ancient China, which is out of place for a Tsoo, who are Hmong) without Ninja Girl's help, though this time I didn't quite click a green in time to avoid mutual destruction. Then I went back for her, ending the mission.
The arc has some good gameplay, even if it does use the hated high-end Tsoo mobs. The gratuitous helpers are annoying, though, especially the one in act III. There are some small gaffes and the arc does lack any noticeable theme, which is not helped by declaring it to be a simulation. I also felt there was not enough text in general to convey much of a plot. It would benefit from some extra polish.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
The next arc in the queue was #161797, "The Revenge of Dr. Marcovivi". This is a four-part arc that, according to its browser info, requires you to choose an ending by picking one of two other arcs, one three-part and the other two-part. This is a failure on two grounds, one being that the arc is incomplete and the other being that it is more than five acts.
It would be virtually impossible for this arc to earn a good rating from me, so I have decided simply not to review it. I don't see the point in reviewing something that says it's incomplete on the label, and I'm not running two arcs to review one story.
I've had one arc come up as invalid. If and when its Architect lets me know it's fixed I'll get back to it.
Hero: 179354, 59147, 15988, 1036, 55715, 37636, 17006, 174368, 60280, 178774, 100306, 181244, 91644, 167493, 149765, 191775, 4824, 171031, 242442, 227331, 41646, 77311, 81043, 67087
Neutral: 1296, 176180, 215257, 207827
INVALIDATED: 137705
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
Arc #179354, "A Crusher Crimewave #1: Crisis at The Citadel"
tl;dr: 2 stars. Offenses: plagiarized, "just a bunch of stuff that happened", poor dialog, plot issues
Reviewed on: 7/20/2009
Level Range: 1-54
Architect's Keywords: Solo Friendly, Custom Characters, Complex Mechanics
My Keywords: Challenging
Character used: Agent Cerulean/Justice
First off, a note on keywords -- I tagged this with "Challenging" because it contains an AV. It wasn't that hard, and would have been even easier if I'd actually dragged around all the allies in the last act.
"Finnegan", a civilain whose info says he's the groundskeeper for the Paragon Crusaders, says he's locked out of his shed and needs your help. This looks like a job for a superhuman...actually, it doesn't, but moving on.... He goes on to say that he doesn't believe the Crusaders are on vacation and thinks the Crushers (presumably a villain group) have something to do with their absence. There's a Crusher attack in progress in Steel Canyon so off you go for some percussive interrogation. You're sent to the small Steel Canyon map to find one Boss, "F.I.S.T", Energy Blast/Don'tKnow, and defeat him. He calls at least two ambush waves. The rest of the mobs are 5th Column for some unexplained reason. Defeating F.I.S.T. nets you a GPS unit that gives the location of the other Crushers.
Unfortunately , they're all over at Manning Enterprises, the tech company that supplies most of the Crusaders' equipment. You have to destroy what they came for and take out the three Crushers on scene, Temper (Mind Control/Illusion Control), Red Bull (Super Strength/Don'tKnow) and the Mercury Mercenary (Assault Rifle/Don'tKnow). I found these guys out of order so their Clues didn't make much sense. The wreckage of the equipment you destroyed somehow gives Finnegan what he needs to track down the rest of the Crushers.
Which wasn't very hard, because he's known where they are the whole time. He finally lets on that he's really Enforcer, one of the Crusaders. The Crushers took over the Crusaders' tower while he was out on patrol and barricaded themselves inside, using the telepads to conduct raids. Enforcer has kept this quiet to avoid thinks like panic or prematurely solving the problem. Anyway, he can now portal the two of you into the base (portal tech map) to take out the remaining Crushers. Enforcer spawned up front with some guards; I just stealthed past. The first named I found was "Hornet" (typo in info: "orgamization"), a Radiation Blast/Radiation Emission Boss. Next up was "Shocker", Electric Blast/Martial Arts (inferred from info), who managed to drop me with a nuke. Then I ran into "The Mace" (info: "The name says it all."...yeah), a War Mace/Willpower Elite Boss. He managed to drop me too thanks to a spurious Boss entering the fight. "Stormlord" (Electric Blast/Storm Summoning Boss) and "Mocker", Sonic Blast/NotSure AV/EB turned out to be in the same room. After taking them out I went back for Enforcer, which triggered the spawn of two more ally rescues, "Evergreen" and "Manta-Man". I found Evergreen first and her rescue ended the mission. Manta-Man was spawned nearby; I believe the current toggle bug caused his Lightning Field to kill his guards. You get a standard thank-you, the end.
The arc has no theme, the presence of the 5th Column is never explained, and while I haven't provided examples of it, the dialog is pretty wretched. What's worse is that a check to see if these characters were author inserts instead turned up the fact that they're plagiarized. The whole thing is lifted from Crisis at Crusader Citadel, a Villains and Vigilantes module. (I didn't play V&V for very long; Champions came out right after I bought V&V, and I almost never bought adventure modules for any of my RPGs. This is why I didn't recognize it off the bat.) Not only does this earn a low rating, but I reported it for content as well.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
Arc #1296, "A Day in the Life of...Dr. Aeon"
tl;dr: 5 stars. Nits: "just a bunch of stuff that happened" (but comedic), continuity gaffe
Reviewed on: 7/20/2009
Level Range: 41-52/1-54/40-54/46-52
Architect's Keywords: Canon Related, Comedy
My Keywords:
Character used: Agent Cerulean/Justice
That level range needs help.
And so does Dr. Aeon. He's contacting you via comlink as he's managed to get himself stuck in the Shadow Shard. Some Natterlings made off with his portal gadget, so he needs you to track them down and retrieve it. You're sent to a tech map (not caves?) full of Rularuu to find three boxes of parts. Finding them triggers his spawn as a captive; rescuing him (cute animation) ends the mission. He had asked you in the entry pop-up to remind him of something when you get back.....
...oh yes, he left his latest project running. It's going to overheat, which would be Bad. How bad? "Let's just say Cap au Diable would become Lagoon au Diable." You're only told after acceptance that it's a 10 minute timed mission...and only told on entry that you don't know which console is the right one, and there are 15 of them. Why did anyone think we needed a re-run of Tina's 10-minute mission? Anyway, I was on a character with Hide and the proper glowie turned out to be the first one anyway. Then when you get back Aeon says he realized that there was never any danger in the first place because he hadn't used the components he thought he used.
Next, Aeon needs you to make a pick-up...meaning, he needs you to steal a component for his project from Crey. You have to steal the part, then take out the Head of Security (Scorpinonx Boss, triggered spawn, two ambushes).
Finally, you get to be there for the activation of Aeon's Time Diverter. Unlike the buggy Time Deflector, this one can pull people in from the future without needing them to be traveling in time already or such. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Well, how about finding the place full of Dr. Aeons, some of which are trying to keep the current one from activating the Diverter. You also find a "Young Dr. Aeon" to rescue and escort out (small gaffe, should be Dr. Egon). In the end, Aeon (the current one) determines that activating the Diverter actually caused all of space-time to start to converge, in turn causing multiple versions of himself to be drawn to him. He decides not to activate the Diverter after all (take that, causality!).
The arc is very funny and worth a run. Recommended.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
[ QUOTE ]
The next arc in the queue was #161797, "The Revenge of Dr. Marcovivi". This is a four-part arc that, according to its browser info, requires you to choose an ending by picking one of two other arcs, one three-part and the other two-part. This is a failure on two grounds, one being that the arc is incomplete and the other being that it is more than five acts.
It would be virtually impossible for this arc to earn a good rating from me, so I have decided simply not to review it. I don't see the point in reviewing something that says it's incomplete on the label, and I'm not running two arcs to review one story.
[/ QUOTE ]
Weird, since we discussed this in PM's before I submitted, and I thought you were quite clear on what I was trying to do here, and that you would deduct, but possibly not much depending on how the first part ended....No big deal though.
Anybody want to actually give this a run through and a review? It would be appreciated.
[ QUOTE ]
Arc #171149, "A helping hand can lead to broken fingers"
tl;dr: 3 stars. Offenses: "just a bunch of stuff that happened", canon issues, weak plot
Reviewed on: 7/16/2009
Level Range: 1-54/1-54/35-54
Architect's Keywords: None
My Keywords: Challenging, Magic, Horror
Character used: Agent Cerulean/Justice
"Drawback", a custom Contact who says he works for Vanguard, rather abusively asks for your help dealing with some kind of creature attack in the sewers. There may be some rookie heroes trapped down there still. The place turns out to be infested with some demonic-looking entities, led by a "Mysterious Woman", Lieutenant strength, who went on about not being ready and such. There are also several newbie heroes to rescue, some of which (along with the Big Bad) trigger ambushes. When you return you're told the Big Bad regained consciousness on the way to the hospital and escaped, which is of course your fault.
She turns up in Kings Row, having thrown some Skulls out of their hideout. Drawback has consulted with Dark Watcher on the case, who says her name is "Voxxa" and now that you "bear her mark" you'll have to fight her. Or...what? Anyway...Drawback has already sent in "Swingarm", you're to catch up and take Voxxa down. This one's on the burning Skulls map. Voxxa is in the top room and she runs on engagement. Since the elevator is only a few feet away, unless you can hold or root a Boss she's going to get away.
For the last act, Voxxa has been tracked to the RWZ. It seems she's an old enemy of the Dark Watcher and is looking for him. Unfortunately he's not in our dimension at the moment. You have to stop her before she gets any stronger, and you're told to "send her to Hell". This might have some ethical issues for the Code Versus Killing crowd, but on the other hand she is a demon. You're sent to one of the Vanguard base maps (the outdoor ones), with Vanguard versus Rikti versus Voxxa and her crew. It wasn't too hard to spot her from the air, now AV/EB strength. Her expanded bio says she was once a lover of Anansi the Spider, but he tricked her into a prison dimension. Once every so often she's released for a year; if in that time she can kiss Anansi she wins her freedom. It is implied that the Dark Watcher is Anansi, which constitutes Canon Defilement. You take her down, the end.
It's a short arc with not much too it. Ain't half bad, ain't half good neither.
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the review Venture. My goal with this was to make it the first of three, three-mission arcs. I see there's need for improvement in this one though.
Just one thing i want to mention (not that you're responding, but..) I meant for Voxxa to believe that the Dark Watcher was Anansi, but for her to have been mislead. I guess working that out in the second arc causes an issue in this one.
Maybe i'll request a re-review someday, thanks again!
Virtue: Sistah Powah, Afrodizziac, NeutronBlonde,Distortionist,IonMaiden,BlindFaith,M adwoman, Vital Signs,Yzzorrdrex,Diesel Mage, Defend, Glasshouse,Rescue I, Bootytrap, The Experience, AE Virus, Drawback, Daytime, Nighttime, Chamberwraith, Invincible Ink, Monster Mitts, Hex Object, Hexperiment, Frightningbolt, Spooky Deville, Scream Weaver, Cackler, Shocktopus, Ogrekill,Road Hazard,Fahrenhate,Duotherm,Black Lung, Horrorculturalist,Foulmouth,
Ouch, I had expected JABOSTH but was surprised by the dialogue issues. I guess one man's joke is another man's lame pun 
. On the issue of the bosses spawning out of order in the second mission I find that annoying since I had them spawning in the correct order the last time I tested it but that was about 3 weeks ago.
Regarding the use of 5th Column I suggested through dialogue in the first mission that they were simply hired guns for the Crushers (implying how far they have fallen since the Council took over).
It was also explained through dialogue why Enforcer didn't just deal with it himself in the first place; he wanted to make sure you could handle the assault on the Citadel by sending you after the first 2 groups and secondly because he was too out-gunned to do it himself (that's why you find him surrounded at the beginning of the 3rd mission).
And finally, on the issue of plagiarizing, I want to say that I did lift the plot beats but not the specifics from the module, as well as the villains and heroes. I also checked the date of publication and that was 1982... 27 years ago. I felt that since the publisher has been out of business for at least 20 years we weren't going to get a re-issue of the game or module so I thought of it as an homage and a piece of nostalgia for us older gamers ...my mistake evidently 
Edit: Having said all of that I don't want to leave the impression of sour grapes. I do still appreciate the time you took to play and review my arc, thank you. And I will also add a story credit to the original module writers in my story synopsis as soon as able to help clarify my inspiration for anyone who plays it from now on.
My 50s:
Prime Minister MA/SR Scrap - Protector
Captain Hit-Guy DM/Reg Scrap - Freedom
Prime-Minister ILL/TA Troller - Freedom
Ultimate Minister Inv/SS Tanker - Freedom
Arc #176180, "Meet the Icerya"
tl;dr: 1 star. Offenses: legion
Reviewed on: 7/20/2009
Level Range: 35-54/41-54/1-54/1-54/1-54
Architect's Keywords: None
My Keywords: Challenging
Character used: Ghostblaze/Infinity
Another disjointed level range. Come on, people. Flagged as Challenging due to the excessive use of EBs and an AV in the last mission.
"Carabid", a custom Contact with no bio, wants you to help her learn more about "the Icerya" so she can write a book about them, it says here. Your first stop is Cimerora, which I just got back from.... Only it seems for some reason the Cimerorans you're supposed to beat information out of are on a modern warehouse map.
It's going to be one of those arcs.
You have one glowie to click, which gives no Clue, just says "you now know what the Cimerorans know", and a Super Strength/Willpower Elite Boss "Coleoptera", with Rage and Rise to the Challenge. This means she does double damage and ignores most Defense for two minutes out of ever four and regenerates like crazy. That right there is enough reason to recommend people skip the arc, but moving on.... You don't get to find out whatever it is you found out about the Icerya. You just get a thank you for getting the information.
Carabid tells you that what you've learned so far (which is evidently nothing) points to the Rularuu as the next most likely source of information. You're sent to some Snake caves...not Rularuu caves, that would be too obvious -- to beat up some Rularuu, along with this guy:
[ QUOTE ]
Adephaga is one of the 4 top under bosses of The Icerya. There is two sets of siblings that make up the four. He and his sister Coleoptera are a destructive force. Mowing down everything. Adephaga hit like..no with a ton of bricks, and he stops attacks with the same fury. He is a wreaking ball, and crew all in one. Your day just got worse.
[/ QUOTE ]
Right. That's pretty much indicative of the quality of writing in this arc. He was a Stone Melee/Shield Defense Elite Boss and had the indecency to spawn as a +2, too (I was on CL4). That's two acts in a row with a ramped-up Big Bad, and it seems safe to guess the rest are going to be like this, too. Once again there's a glowie and once again you don't really learn anything; it just says that you've got a lead on the Icerya's lair.
Which of course is where you're sent next. This one is on an office-to-caves map...what?...and is a defeat-all. The map is populated with the Icerya custom faction, all beetle-themed mobs with a variety of powers, none really noteworthy. The EB at the end this time is "Elytra", a Plant Control/Energy Blast, and you're narrated as having taken her alive.
After Carabid has a chance to extreme rendition Elytra, you get sent to a sewers map...the hell?...to find three more Icerya. You have to defeat Scarab (Earth Control/Sonic Blast), Myxophaga (Ice Control/NotSure, and his info suggests he actually has Scarab's powers) and Silphid (Ice Control/Storm Summoning? Not sure), all Elite Bosses.
You're told in the next briefing that last mission you learned about the Icerya's queen, Epilachna, and her son Calosoma. You're to go beat the location of their big nest out of him. You're sent to another office-to-caves map to beat up a Spines/Electric Manipulation Elite Boss, the end. Carabid tells you the Queen moved the nest and is now gunning for you, have a nice life.
The arc has no plot, never mind a theme, and is nothing more than a showcase for some uninteresting and often overpowered mobs. Skip it.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
[ QUOTE ]
Another disjointed level range. Come on, people.
[/ QUOTE ]
I have to admit I'm still baffled as to why you care. If the top level range varies widely, yes, that affects what powers and abilities you'll have as you progress through the arc. But if the lower limit varies, all that happens is the bad guys may get a little beefier - AFAICT it doesn't really materially affect how easy or hard the arc is overall.
And for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines
The floor should be set realistically. Looking at the last review, if a level 35 character hits the following mission with a 41 floor he's going to be missing two powers and 12 slots, which is significant. He'll also be missing the tier-9 from his secondary.
It also suggests the Architect is using factions from differing level brackets, which in turn suggest a disjointed story. There are legitimate reason for doing this -- I did it in "Why We Fight" -- but in the vast majority of the cases I've reviewed a disjointed level range is just the result of sloppy work.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
And everybody playing the Venture Drinking Game take a shot for 'Doing X is bad, except when I do it, when it's legitimate.'
Eco
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)
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
[The Incarnate System is] Jack Emmert all over again, only this time it's not "1 hero = 3 white minions" it's "1 hero = 3 white rocks."
|
And everybody playing the Venture Drinking Game take a shot for 'Doing X is bad, except when I do it, when it's legitimate.'
Feel free to run the arc in question (#253990) and explain why what I did was inappropriate. I don't mind complaints, as long as you show your work.
Just review it in your own thread or the arc's thread, not here, please.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
[ QUOTE ]
And everybody playing the Venture Drinking Game take a shot for 'Doing X is bad, except when I do it, when it's legitimate.'
Feel free to run the arc in question (#253990) and explain why what I did was inappropriate. I don't mind complaints, as long as you show your work.
Just review it in your own thread or the arc's thread, not here, please.
[/ QUOTE ]
i wasnt suggesting your use of X was not legitimate.
Eco
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)
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
[The Incarnate System is] Jack Emmert all over again, only this time it's not "1 hero = 3 white minions" it's "1 hero = 3 white rocks."
|
[ QUOTE ]
The floor should be set realistically. Looking at the last review, if a level 35 character hits the following mission with a 41 floor he's going to be missing two powers and 12 slots, which is significant. He'll also be missing the tier-9 from his secondary.
It also suggests the Architect is using factions from differing level brackets, which in turn suggest a disjointed story.
[/ QUOTE ]
The difference between a 35+ faction and a 41+ faction isn't that great IME. But that aside, I assume what you're saying is that instead of:
35-54/41-54/1-54/1-54/1-54
the arc should be
41-54/41-54/41-54/41-54/41-54
The interesting thing about this is that, if it changes the difficulty at all, it makes the mission sequence harder, not easier. So I guess the point is to make everything the same to make the decision easier for the player?
And for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines
The interesting thing about this is that, if it changes the difficulty at all, it makes the mission sequence harder, not easier. So I guess the point is to make everything the same to make the decision easier for the player?
It doesn't make the arc harder because the arc is as hard as its hardest part. What it does is make that clear. So yes, it's making the decision easier for the player by disclosing its true difficulty.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
[ QUOTE ]
I have to admit I'm still baffled as to why you care. If the top level range varies widely, yes, that affects what powers and abilities you'll have as you progress through the arc. But if the lower limit varies, all that happens is the bad guys may get a little beefier - AFAICT it doesn't really materially affect how easy or hard the arc is overall.
[/ QUOTE ]
As I understand it, the biggest problem with this kind of level jump is that just because a lowbie has been auto-SKed up to the appropriate level doesn't mean that they can actually handle enemies at that range. Putting aside the problem of not having nearly as many powers and slots at that point as they should (including a number of defense/control options), there's also the fact that once you hit level 25-30, the game will be assuming that you're completely decked out in SO enhancements at the very least, if not a few IOs, and will be balanced to that assumption. A lowbie who's still using TOs or even DOs is going to be seriously out-classed.
From the other side, I personally find being suddenly auto-exemplared to be equally frustrating since it means I won't be getting XP for that mission.
Arc ID 181244 - Waves of Chaos
Arc ID 260113 - One Tough Cookie
Arc #177826, "Lights, Camera, Scream!"
tl;dr: 1 star. Offenses: no plot but still throws the Idiot Ball, Killer GM
Reviewed on: 7/16/2009
Level Range: 25-54
Architect's Keywords: Challenging, Custom Characters, Horror
My Keywords: Same
Character used: Agent Cerulean/Justice
"Carrie S. Hutters", a filmmaker, wants your help in making a short "holo-film" about vampires. As part of the research for a larger film effort, she wants you to head into a vampire enclave and retrieve both a specimen and a diary, all while wearing a mini-camera and microphone. This takes you to the Midnighter's map to fight a few custom mobs, none of which are particularly noteworthy. You do find the diary, but the Clues say you get a sample of the boss vampire's flesh (the defeat text says "blood") and there's another Clue about Carrie being involved with the Council that makes absolutely no sense at this point. All she says in the debriefing is "Fantastic job! We'll definately keep you in mind for our next flick." OK.....
The next flick turns out to be "A Dozen Deadly Roses", a story about a jilted bride cursing her married friends and causing wacky supernatural hijinks involving her reanimated victims and all the brides or prospective or former brides in the area. You're sent in to retrieve the wedding rings of the victims and break the curse. You have to fight six parties of triggered spawns on the burning Hellions office map, meaning you have to run all over the place. All of the mobs are Lieutenants with Regen and they all resurrect on death. This was tedious enough for the arc to hit one star right there. The Clues also mention the Council again, and again there is not one single Council mob on the map.
The next one is "Frat Party Massacre", in which a frat party held at a graveyard (are people really that stupid in Paragon City?) You're to go in and clean up the inevitable zombie attack, paying particular attention to the "B'arat Triplets". These turn out to be "Brats", Plant Control/Dark Miasma (I think, not sure) Bosses, surrounded by large groups of frat-themed zombies with annoying powers. You're on one of the fog-covered graveyard maps too; fortunately the Brats have bright pnk auras making them fairly easy to spot from the air. Again the clues mention the Council. The entire final debriefing is: " You're beautiful. We like the way you work; we'll be starting our next set of films soon and we'll call you. . . for real, we will." That's it. There's an extremely perfunctory souvenir.
The arc has no plot but still managed to throw the Idiot Ball thanks to the Council references. It is really nothing more than a shooting gallery of cliched, uninteresting and overpowered custom mobs. Skip it.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"