Full disclosure: the author is an SG mate.
This arc earned a five-star rating from me. It's well worth a play.
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 Name: "Karmic Exchange"
Arc ID: 47550
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
First Published: 04/12/09 04:59pm
Morality: Heroic
Level Range: 45 - 54
Description: "Life and death are not absolutes in the City; but what price will one man pay to bring back his lost love? And should he be ALLOWED to do so?"
NOTES: This is my first (and so far, only) published story. While it can be played as a straight 'adventure' the intent of it was to make the player think about just how far a 'hero' should go.
In the Golden Age, superheroes were Heroes with a capital "H", beacons of virtue who did no wrong... but in more modern times, superheroes have been portrayed more as PEOPLE, which is to say, flawed.
This arc is labeled "heroic" because that is the assumption that is made throughout, although there are hints that perhaps the player's character is not SO heroic as all that. The final choice that the player-character must make doesn't make him or her a ~villain~ (to my way of thinking, anyway).... just a different KIND of hero. Perhaps a darker, more flawed hero, but still someone who at the end of the day is trying to do what he/she thinks is RIGHT.
There are two Elite Bosses in the arc, although I don't think they're all THAT difficult - I've soloed them with many different characters of differing archetypes and powersets. As always, if you're not sure you can take down an Elite Boss you can lower your difficulty (even down to Heroic / Villainous, in which case the Elite Boss should spawn as a Boss, I believe).
I mention this option (lowering your difficulty) because the final Elite Boss fight is TIMED. I normally hate timed missions, but that's the only real way I could configure a 'choice'... you can choose to 'fail' the mission (by letting the timer run out --- another reason the timer is pretty short; who wants to wait 90 minutes for a time-out you WANT to happen?) or you can choose to complete it.
You should pretty much KNOW what decision you will be facing before you accept the mission, so you should know in advance if you want to finish it or let it "fail" ( I hate phrasing it that way :P ). If you WANT to succeed, bear in mind that you ONLY have to beat the final boss and destroy one glowie --- you don't have to bother with anyone else on the relatively small map.
I'd recommend reading all the text and especially after you accept a mission, click BACK on the contact again (to get the Still Busy dialog) ---- some of that gives a bit more insight, I think, into things (but of course is not required reading).
Sorry for the rambling. I ramble.
Your comments are appreciated.
EDIT: Missed an end-quote and need to change my sig