MCMs 5-Star Reviews!

[ QUOTE ]


For me it is the Void Shadow, but for another, just a dream. As this is, in a way, a 'personal journey' I wanted to leave a bit of the setting nebulous so that people could interpret it however most apropos for their character. I think that for Scoop it may have just been a dream, for another it might have been real. What do you think? Does that approach work or do you think it too vague for most?



[/ QUOTE ]


My view on what happened is that Scoop travelled to the Void Shadow and did indeed 'unmake' himself and save the universe etc, but all the time his body was asleep in his bed. Scoop himself isnt sure if it really happened or it was just a dream. I think that adding something 'brought back' from the dreamstate/Void, in the souvenir for example, would be a bad idea.

I think that as it stands, your story if anything isnt vague enough. After the initial comment about dreaming, i think the text more implies physical translation to a 'real' place.

Of course, some players will be using robots, immortals who never sleep, psychics who have total control over their minds etc; telling these people that their toons are asleep is doomed to fail.

Listening to them and maling your story a 'one size fits all' is equally valid as listening to my preference of having it explicitly experienced whilst asleep with the 'was that real or just a dream?' question left up to the player to decide. In the end you have to Tell Your Story.

Id like to stress that im definitely not advocating having the story say that it was just a dream, by the way ( as i said, i believe that it did happen); i just feel that a real strength of the arc lies in its dreamlike nebulous atmosphere, and the steel canyon ending jarred a little for me with that.



Eco

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."

Well, here we are on the new forums. I've only had a few hours to look at them yet, but provisionally I hate them

I'm sure they'll revealt them selves as awesome or at least not too onerous to get used to.

I do hjave anothe review ready, anyway. I wish it could be a fandabydozey ultra awesome 5-starrer to counterbalance my really very strong 'bleh, do not like' reaction to the new forums, but it's not quite that uber It IS, however, plenty fun enough for a play. Go on, do it.

Any spelling mikstake etc- i'm sorry, but the new forums won't let me see a preview (if I can, please domeone tell me howe), so thrrrppp. The URL fopr Tommy, likewise I don't see an easy way tom add it.



The Doctor Returns, Arc ID 1152, by @FredrikSvanberg. Very Long (4 mediums, 1 unique map). Heroic, lvl range 35-54. It’s ‘recommended for 30+, so I’m taking Tommy Atkins



my lvl 31 MA/SR scrapper through it.

The description says that the Player will be helping ‘The Doctor’ to stop Crey’s latest insane plot. Sounds good!

“I’ll tell yer this – the Future takes some getting’ used to...the present, I mean. See, I was born in 1920, an’ I’m still only in me twenties. Ter me, all this stuff is still like really weird an’ futuristic. Still, I’m slowly getting’ used ter it. I got the email in me flat about a month ago, an’ it’s quite useful, I must say. trouble is, I gets a lot of spam ‘cos I’m not too good at the internet yet, ‘an I dunno aboiut all these virus windows and stuff…spam…ha, back in the War, spam was jus’ somethin’ we ate! No, not the Rikti War, I missed that…World War II, I mean…

“Yesterday, though, I got an email which was very interestin’. it was from someone called The Doctor, askin’ for help. I replied, an’ The Doctor got back ter me right sharpish, tellin’ me that Crey was up ter no good. What’s new, I ‘ear yer arsk, eh?

“Accordin’ ter the email, they was plannin’ ter use the Mission Archotect ter ‘copy’ its users, or somethin’. I confess, I am not what yer’d call a technical genius, so a lot of the details sort of swam over me ‘ead, but I was about ter go an’ ‘ave me usual Sunday mornin’ trainin’ session anyway, an’ The Doctor’s ‘proof was in the form of a visit ter a specific mission in the system. I figured I might as well ‘ave a looksee…

[I like the use of my SG name! Second time I’ve encountered that! Nice setup, the use of ‘Your Computer’ as the contact is cool too.]

Mission 1: Enter the Hacked Mission

“So I gets meself down ter the Kings Row AE building, an’ logs inter the mission that The Doctor supplies. Inside, I’m in a Council ware’ouse, just right fer a warm-up…I takes a stroll in, an’ I says ‘allo ter some council geezers on the way…

“After a few scuffles with some ‘hoverbots an’ the like, I finds that young bird from Faultline…Fusionette, that’s the girl…she’s bein’ ‘eld prsoner by some people who look out of place among the Council…I think they’re avatars of the MA staff! They take me fer a rogue program! Cheek! I ‘ave ter take ‘em down, I’m afraid. I ‘ope they ain’t too sore when they wake up!

“Fusionette’s pleased ter see me, but confused – she thought she was doin’ this sim solo! So did I!

[Ha! I love it. I freed Fusionette, and then her ‘I thought I was solo in this mission’ line gave me a sort of little twist in my assumptions. Fusionette’s not a simulation? She’s another customer of the AE? …or is she? …hmm…]

“Any’ows, it’s nice ter ‘ave ‘er along with me. We make a nice little team.

[and it is nice. Tommy can handle all this easily by himself, at least so far, but I’m not one of the ‘wah, allies stealin’ my rewards’ mob, so as long as they don’;t act like knobs, allies have a thumbs up from me. This map seems to be keeping Fusionette’s well-documented craziness in check]

“We fight our way through a few dozen Council soldiers, like a well-oiled duo…an’ then…

[Woah!]

“…an then…in a big storage room, we find another Fusionette! Looks identical ter the girl with me! The new one’s a bit different, though, in that as soon as she sees me, she starts hurlin’ those energy blasts at me! Charmin’! I ‘as ter doge abaht somethin’ mental! After we put the Fusionette double or whatever it was down, another one pops up! An’ another! An’ after them two was done with, another one! It was like a bloody chorus line of Fusionettes!

[lovely. not too many of them, all in that last room, well-balanced challenge for Tommy, with ‘my’ Fusionette helping. They spawned as yellow lvl 35 heros, btw. Did I mention I’m at challenge lvl 1? I do ALL my runs at this challenge level. Nice mission.]

“After the last one wad defeated, I thought it was time I got out of there. I returned ter reality, an’ used the computer in the AE lobby ter check my email.

“A few back –and-forth messages from The Doctor explained more. He..she…whoever…wasn’t alive…digitized, livin’ in the guts of the interweb an suchlike! Wow…anyway, the Fusionettes in that mission were sort of copies of the original that Crey were makin’ ter use fer various nefarious purposes, as they do, yer know. They needed stoppin’! They always need stoppin’, o’ course. But that’s OK, stoppin’ villainy’s what I does best.

“Anyways, the nextr step was ter get inter another mission, an’ do some fiddlin’ with the gubbins and what ‘ave yer, ter get me some ‘admin priviliges’…I guess that’s somethin’ like the free parkin’ the Lord Mayor o’ London ‘as, maybe…whatever, this mission that The Doc ‘as ‘acked is called ‘testing for bugz’

Mission 2: Kill all bugz lol!!1

“This mission was infested with bugs…weird lookin’ spider guys with extra arms on their backs. I ‘ates spiders! Anyway, after a while I found some of ‘em pickin’ on a Crey Paragon protector…I was all ready ter leave em’ to it, but ‘e spoke ter me, told me ‘e was a pal o’ the Doctor’s. I let ‘im out an’ ‘e tagged along fer the ride…

[odd choice for an ally, considering we’re up against Crey?]

“Me an the protector went fer a wander through the office that was the settin’ fer this mission, findin’ a big ‘ole in the floor leadin’ ter some caves, an’ ‘ad quite a fun tikme of it kickin’ the bugs about on the way. I found the ‘back door’ that the Doctor ‘ad stold me about, an’ whipped out the post-it note with the instructions I’d copied down…an’ just 40 minutes later, I ‘ad me some shiny new admin privileges!

[This mission was an OK bug-hunt, fine for some XP-hoovering, but a bit short on exciting content I’m afraid. The map itself is not huge, but big enough to have made me expect something more, especially after the surprising multiple Fusionettes in Mission 1]

“When I got out an’ checked me email again, I ‘ad a message from the AE – My account ‘ad been upgraded! Nice.

“The Doc’s got more fer me ter do, o’ course. Rescuin’ some of the geezers what ‘ave already bin digitized an’ stored by Crey, fer starters. The Doc tells me ter expect some resistance this time…no fears, ‘ere!

[Hm. I read the briefing for the next mission, and I was expecting a real-world break-in until the last sentence, which directs me to the data-stream again to be sent to ‘a virtual representation’ of the file storage. It’s seeming slightly odd to be using my admin ctatus and fighting ‘extra security’ inside n AE representation of a real-world place? BTW, Perhaps ‘file archive’ would be a better choice of name for the type of facility I’m assaulting?]

Mission 3: Search the File Storage

[I’ve capitalized your mission titles here, but in game they aren’t. I personally prefer Capitalization of the main words in a title. here, too, it would add another difference to the uncapitalized Mission 2, which is supposed to be someone else’ s crap PL mission or something, I think.]

“So this virtual thingumajig looks like a sewer. A sewer fulla Freaks! They must be the extra security they’ve hired. I could do wiv a workout, so I ‘ave some fun…

[I like beating up Freaks, so I clear as I go…]

“There’s a big Freak in charge, ‘es well surprised ter find me punches can hurt him. ‘E ain’t surprised fer long, though. After that, I ‘ave ter look for the compressed files…the first one I find is Fusionette! She couldn’t ‘ave got out of that warehouse mission! There are some AE admin types guardin’ ‘er…I sort them out and free the girl. She’s a bit confused so I tell’s ‘er ter scarper.

[It isn’t totally clear in the first mission that she doesn’t get out, so it was a little surprising to find her here]

“Next up…its Positron! Blimey! ‘E says the last thing ‘e remembers is bein’ asked ter look at the system before it was opened ter the public! ‘E’s bin in their fer months!

[Fusionette and Positron both spawned in that same large last room, which is good. I have to backtrack quite a lot to find Faultline, the third. He’s the last objective.

“Usually, where Fusionette is, ‘er boyfriend Faultline is, I figure, so I ‘ave a quick superjump around the place one last time before I leave, just ter make sure, like. An’ bingo, there ‘e is, in another chamber, bein’ guarded by some AE admin geezers. After I sorts ‘im out, ‘e goes racin’ off, an I finish off a few more Freaks before turnin’ the lights out on my way out.

[The Instructor dialogue is identical for Posi, Faultline and Fusionette. Another nice little Clear for Tommy, but I didn’t like the map much, it’s a little bit fiddly, and a sewer seems a bit arbitrary for the Storage facility. As I was playing it, especially when I freed Posi, I realized that the arc reminds me a little of Tad Williams Otherland books, which I rate highly]

“The Doc was pleased that I’d freed Positron, but time was tickin’, an’ there was another job fer your truly.

Mission 4: Find an Interface Node

“The Doc wants me ter enter the ‘eart of the AE admin system. I’ll be tryin’ ter find an ‘interface node’, whatever that is, so
s I can shove a virus or somethin’ up the AE’s jacksie. There’ll be plenty of virtual ****-kickin’ ter do as well, no doubt.

[Timed mission – 60 mins. Came with a warning before the mission accept, which is great]

“The place is swarmin’ with AE technicians an’ repair specialists an’ allsorts! I stretch me fists an’ feet a bit, even though I’m on the clock.

[I love the technicians helmets, in fact the whole custom group looks great for the AE technical and admin staff. The Phantom Army explanation in the bios of the Technicians is very neat]

“I found a good few potential nodes, but those Ae security geezers were right on the ball. The Doc’s program keot getting’ stopped before it woulc upload properly…

[There’s quite a few interface niode glowies to click, eh?]

“After a few attempts, they must ‘ave got wise, cos an alarm goes off an’ a ‘uge group of techs shows up ter give me what for. I give it back to ‘em…

[Lovely ambush that.]

“I keep goin, deeper inter the system…

[Nice linear map this]

“And eventually I finds the right node…

[no clue for this, the system message explains its been uploading. I was waiting for an ambush from an earlier node, so after the mission copmpleted I had a nice little fight. Incidentally, there were other nodes still left after the mission complete; clicking them resulted in the ‘failed upload’ message, but its worded as though I haven’t uploaded anything successfully yet.]

“An’ job done!

“Outside, The Doctor contacts me from inside the AE itself. There’s one more thing ter do. Clean the system of any track I might ‘ave left of meself.

Mission 5: Wipe Out Your Tracks

“The Doctor was goin’ ter put me into a normal mission, an’ then I’d ‘ave ter find two AE agents an’ nick the access codes ter a backdoor passage ter the gubbins of the system, where I could do me spring cleanin’. Sounded very complicated ter me, but The Doc assured me it’d be a piece o cake…

“Once inside the mission, I see Crey agents everywhere. They give me some stick, so’s I show ‘em some manners.. After a few rooms full, I finds a big cheese spoutin’ off at me, an’ we ‘as a bit of a tussle. ‘E gives up a passcode before ‘e disconnects…

[this is an office-to-cave map]

“In one room there’s a great big ‘ole ion the floor – I drop down ter find another head agent an’ a mainframe of some sort. I drops the agent, she gives up another passcode, and then I wipes the files off the mainframe…

[beating up the mainframe wipes its files…I think a collectible would work better]

“All I gots ter do then is delete the backup files, which should be around somewhere…

“An’ in a big cave, I found ‘em…on another mainframe. I cleaned the room of AE techs first, then took me time deletin’ the files. Clean as a whistle!

“I exits, an’ The Doc thanks me fer…’ang on, what’s ‘appened? the Doc’s thankin’ me fer stuff I ‘aven’t done! Eh? My copy did some stuff, saved the world or some such? [scratches head]…I’ll never get all this modern stuff, if I lives ter be a hundred!

[end]

Hm…I’m afraid that that didn’t grab me by the goolies, that arc. Overall, I find it right on the cusp of 3 and 4 stars.

I’ll go with the negatives first. I found the ‘virtualisation’ of missions 4 and 5 to be confusing; I couldn’t see why I wasn’t doing a real-world mission instead. I confess I didn’t realize that I was supposed to be a copy of Tommy until the end debriefing. Also, the maps sometimes seemed arbitrary.

The pluses: The writing was free of typos or grammar errors, all the bios and system messages were used, and care was obviously taken when writing it. The maps were mainly of good size and with minimal or no backtracking. I loved the customs, and fighting them was a lot of fun. I cleared all on mission 4 and 5, just for the fun of fighting them.

And with that, I’ve answered my 3/4 conundrum. The story isn’t fireworks, IMO, and there could be some more objectives or something to spice it up, but the AE is all about the fun, isn’t it, and I did have a lot of fun. 4 stars.

Eco.

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."

Thanks for the review!

I'll just clear up some of your questions.

The Doctor is a canon contact, more about her can be found here: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Doctor_Friedkin

Executable Number 6 is one of her allies in the web, mentioned briefly in canon missions. Having him look like a recolored Paragon Protector saved me some mission space and I thought of it as him poking fun at Crey, or possibly using a hacking device which made him look that way to enter the mission. It wasn't supposed to be that important.

You're right, mission 3 is annoying with the way the hostages show up. I'm going to see if I can find another map where all of them will fit in the last room. Having the MA file storage server look like a sewer is supposed to be a joke about the average quality of the missions stored in it. Or something.

The office-to-cave maps were supposed to represent the Doctor hacking into the administration layer of the Mission Architect through a normal mission. At least that's what she's doing in mission 2. In mission 5 it's not so clear, I agree.

For my twist end to work a real-world mission wouldn't work. The Doctor is also all about the web and existence as a digital ghost so for her it makes more sense to pull the player into her world and make him do things her way. That way she can actually help him access the places he needs to go. But mostly it's because it's a story about the MA so it makes sense to make it all take place within the virtual world.

I'm glad you liked the custom MA staff enemies, I spent a lot of time working out the balance and testing them with different ATs. I think I created a pretty cool group which could provide a challenge both for teams and solo artists. I only wish I had room to fit more different-looking types of enemies in it, for greater variation. Since I made the group I've found more MA staff types standing around in the AE buildings and I wish I could use them all.

Once again, thanks for the review.

So my queue is now:

City of Ho Ho Help: A Prequel 267125
Web of Deception 75310
The Ballad of Murky Thecat 77311
Halloween Night 227436

Eco.

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."

Oh! Oh! I got two if you want to review them.

Old Ideas #216078
Length: Long
Faction: Neutral
Difficulty: It has one Arch-Villain (which will scale to an Elite Boss depending on team size), but it should be soloable.
Description: A strange faction of commandos have recently been looting Circle hideouts for some devious plot. The Midnight Squad know something, but refuse to share any information. Can you unravel the mystery and defeat this new enemy?

Vespero Rising #272918
Length: Very Long
Faction: Heroic
Difficulty: Has multiple Arch-Villains/Elite Bosses on Mission 5, so it is recommended you bring help, unless you like villains beating you down repeatedly.
Description: The deadly Vespero Orginisation and it's army of minions seek to bring Paragon City to it's knees, and have hatched a plan to make that nightmare a reality. Crack the evil enigma and stop a powerful threat from invading our world.

Hope you got time to take a look at these.

I would be interested in reading your review of arc id:1444 the twisted tongue.

I haven't been touting it nearly enough recently

Cheers

Feel free to play Stuff 'n' Fluff (arc ID is in my sig) I just finished tweaking it a little to make it a lot less evil to play

Don't bother with the other one, it's bugged to all hell

Feel free to try Love's Labours Lost from my sig. I'll get my other arc posted into my sig soon too.

Feel free to try Strife in Turmoil - 65180

It's an origin arc, but I made sure to leave all traces of ego out of the arc, and all glory goes to the player because of the 2 characters who's origin this arc describes, one is the villain whom the player must defeat, and the other, a hero, is indisposed so he cannot interfere.

arc continains 1 Elite Boss, but he's a pushover

OK, here's my queue:

City of Ho Ho Help: A Prequel 267125
Web of Deception 75310
The Ballad of Murky Thecat 77311
Halloween Night 227436
Old Ideas 216078
The Twisted Tongue 1444
Stuff 'n' Fluff! 81348
Love's Labours Lost 242292
Strife in Turmoil -65180

That's plenty to be going on with, so no more submissions please!

Please be patient, I've had a lovely weekend cycling in forests etc, but next week i'll stay in and do some proper MArcing!

Eco

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."

Woooo! I finally figured out how to log in again.

And I'm next on here! Wheeee!

Have fun with it, MCM.

I know you said no more submissions, but at some point in the far future when you have time you're welcome to try my low level arc, if you wish:

Arc Title: The Renegade Rebellion
Arc ID: 117690
Level Range: L1-15
Morality: Neutral
Soloable: Yes
EBs/AVs: None - ignore the in-game EB warning, it's wrong
Missions: 5
Enemy factions: Clockwork, Coralax, Minions of Igneous, Spectral Pirates, Custom Group (no custom mobs in it)
City of Guides link: Clicky

It was designed as an arc to get a completely new L1 character to L6-7 (ready to do 3 newsies/pbands + mayhem/safeguard to get to L10), so you may wish to use a fresh character for it.

It's not quite as epic as my other two arcs (listed in my sig), but they're both L45-50 endgame arcs (or at least the final mission of 220049 is L45-50 - I'd rather it was L30-50 like the rest of the arc, but the levels of some required-by-story EBs preclude it).

Firstly, I’m sorry for the multiple posts for this, but these damn forums suck and blow. I tried to post the review in one post but I kept getting an error message telling me I’d put 6 images in it. I hate this ****.

City of Ho Ho Help: A Prequel, Arc ID 267125, by @Tubbius

This is a prequel to Tubbius’ arc City of Ho Ho Ho, or A Claus in Paragon, (my review of that can be found here

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showp...2&postcount=65)

[Grah. I STILL cant find out how to post a URL here and have it show as a single clickable word. Can anyone tell me how to do this wothout having to type in codes?]

This arc is a villainous lvl 5-20 arc, of Medium length (3 small, 1 tiny map).

Apparently it’s going to tell the story of Pistola, the villain in City of Ho Ho Ho. In the spirit of celebrating our newly arrived European chums, I’ve decided to take Jacque le Black



- my ‘French’ Rad/Therm Corruptor in. My sincere apologies to any proper Frenchmen reading. I assure you I am somewhat of a Francophile, despite being British

“Oh, mah friend, ah tell you, being cooped up in ze Rouge islands is not all ze life of ze Riley, non? I ‘ave been trying to get mah sexy little shifter out and away on ‘ow you zay, mah tippytoes to Paragon City, but it is no piece of cakewalk, moreaux le pitee!

“Ah am afraid ah ‘ave ‘ad to resort to malpractice from time to time, jus’ to get by in zis terrible buffet of scum and villainy! Ah, like yesterday, ah was at a loose end, and ah am not afraid to tell you, ah was ver’ ‘ungry, mon ami! Man does not live by love alone, eh? If only…Jacque would be 200 kilos by now, eh? Ah went by Desdemona’s patch, as I do ever’ week…she is usually only too ‘appee to see Jacque, non? I gives ‘er ze tingle under her bridge, you know what ah mean? ‘An zen in return, she gives me some discount coupons for ze Steak Chevalier at mah favourite restaurant, ze Louie Louie . It’s a ver’ nice arrangement, mais oui.

“But – non, not zis time, she was having it away, somewhere else. Luckily, I ‘eard a ‘psst’ from ze shadows, an’ zere was a likely looking type, calledPpistola, ‘e said ‘iz name was. ‘E ‘ad a little job for Jacque. Something easy.

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."

Mission 1: Find Snacks

[First mission’s explained simply enough. Pistola wants Jacque to break into Delicious Dishes and steal some food for his Outcast gang. Easy.]

“Ah broke into ze delicious dishes ware’ouse easily enough…it was empty, haha…zis was going to be like ze little piece of ze fairy cake in mah pocket for later, non? Ah, hah…

[hmm…an empty warehouse! ah, maybe not… ]

“Around a corner, ah runs into some ugly authority types. Zey aren’t pleased to see Jacque. To tell ze truth, mon ami, ah sink ah recognizes two of zem from photographs ah may ‘ave seen on some bedside tables on nights just like zis one…maybe zese boys work ze same shifts ever’ week, non?

“Anyway, ah ‘ave to fend zem off like ze mangy dogs zey are! Zey ‘ave no finesse, comin’ at me wiz zere big billy clubs out, grunting like beasts. Its no wonder zere lady friends feel unappreciated at ‘ome!

“After zey are sleepin like lambs for ze slaughter’ouse, I open ze box of snack foods zey were guarding. Donuts! Well, its not a fine gateaux cooked by ze cook of ze Countess De Chamberpote, served up on a bed of asparagus tips and oysters, but it will do to quell ze rumbling in mah tumbling, non?

“Ah move on through ze building, breaking ‘eads…oh, mon friend, ah would sooner be breaking ‘earts!

[Gotta run Jacque through a Carnie arc ]

“…and a few more boxes of donuts under mah belt, an’ ah’m ready to do ze splits, yes?

“When ah report back to Pistola wiz ze donuts, ‘e is not ver’ impressed, ah am sad to say. ‘E is even less impressed when ze gendarmes start to raid ‘iz base because of what ze papers are calling Ze Great Donut ‘Eist of Jacque Le Black! Ah ‘ave inadvertently stuffed ze cat into ze pigeon’ole, ah think, eh, mon ami? Mercredi Mullette! Ah ‘ad better go an’ sort it out.

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."

Mission 2: Protect The Outcast Headquarters

“’E ‘as warned me to expect an ‘ero! Ooh, zis may be mah big chance, to get off of zese stinking islands! Maybe ah can reason wiz zis ‘ero, eh?

“Inside ze base, I admire ze ver’ tasteful wallpaper for a few seconds before ah am inundated wiz SWAT agents! It is like ah am in a terrible TV show called ‘Get Jacque!’. Ah ‘ave to resort to going ver’ nuclear indeed!

[Ze..ahem. The SWAT agents are very slightly annoying with the –jump lol, but otherwise a fun bunch to fight]

‘Ah fight mah way through ze building, zapping ‘ere, wafting mah big green farty clouds of radiation zere, it is all more fun zan ze time ah taught Ghostly Widow ze fine art of ze Flipper! You know what ze Flipper is, mon ami? Ah sink you call it somesink else, oui? It’s like a table, wiz glass on top of it, an’ zis little metal ball zips around like a crazy thing, oiu? Bouncing off zese little flippers! Hence, ze Flipper! Frenchmen are ze best in ze world at ze Flipper, mon friend – ze secret is all in ze hips, you know what ah mean?

“Anyway, ah found some of Pistolas men, ‘eld captive by ze SWAT teams, an’ so ah rescued zem…zey ran off like ze wind. Don et moi! Chamois leather! No ‘elp at all! Poor Jacque!

[OK, the outcast rescues are a nice little diversion, but where’s your dialogue? Ho Ho Ho had bare, but great, lines, IIRC?]



“Finally, in a little room I fight a little party of SWAT, and zen I spies ze ‘ero in ze top room! Les Miserable!



“‘E is dressed up like ze papa Noele! What a jolly looking fellow ‘e is! Ah should ‘ave no problem convincing ‘im zat ah am no criminal! I’ll be back in ze bright lights of Paragon City before you can say, toute suite!

[The final room here was a nice little fight, and then I popped upstairs and rested round a corner whilst I had a look at good old Tubbius Claus…

And my entire world collapsed into a CATACLYSMIC ARMAGEDDON OF BLEAK INFERNAL DESPAIR. I staggered back in my computer chair, the color draining from my face, and the hope fading from my life. My future, once bright and cheerful, now stretched out in front of me empty and arid, a desert of paucity. My ears rang with the dull clamor of solitude and my eyes misted with the cold impersonal brutal truth of the void. All was pain, all was sadness, all was waste, and all was bad. The End had come for MCM.

Why?

Lol firstly, let me point out some things about your NPC Tubbius from the earlier arcs he features in.

In City of Ho Ho Ho (arc ID 18775), Tubbius’ bio is ‘This is Tubbius: bumbling hero and jolly fellow.’ (He is also the contact for that arc, but he doesn’t have a bio even though we can now ‘ask about this contact’). The description of the arc says ‘Tubbius is a bumbler who thinks himself Santa Claus’.

In PENGUIN (Arc ID 29205), Tubbius’ bio is ‘This is Tubbius Claus, bumbling hero and jolly fellow’, so much the same.

In This Costume Contest Sponsored By Tubbius, (Arc ID 101933), the contact is Tubbius again, and again you haven’t given him a description here, but inside mission 1, Tubbius’ bio is ‘This is Tubbius Claus, bumbling hero, costume contest lover, and your current storyteller’.

Now I may be totally alone in this, lol, but through the playing of all three of those arcs, I got the impression that Tubbius’ identity as Santa Claus was up for debate. IE, he was either a ‘bumbler’ who merely thought he was Santa but actually wasn’t, or he was in fact Santa Claus. As far as I recall, none of his dialogue or the NPC dialogue, or clues ever specifically said outright that he wasn’t the real Santa. It was one of the whimsical things I loved about the Tubbius Trilogy.

And now, in City of Ho Ho Help, Tubbius’ bio reveals the horrid truth; in this arc, there is no Santa.

Now I know I promised to keep this thread positive and make any criticism mild, but brace yourself, for here comes the most damning finger-wag ever…

You’re in danger of making my stuffed bear cry.



Please. Make it sweetly, daftly, ambiguous, as it was before. Think of the Bear.


Luckily, Jacque hasn’t read his bio, so as far as he’s concerned, it’s Christmas!]

“Ah call out ‘Coo-ee, Papa Noele? Ah mean you no ‘arm, Santa! Ah ‘ave been a ver’ good boy indeed, ah promise., an’ all I wants for Christmas is a ticket ‘ome to Paragon!’…’An zen I walks around ze corner, smiling like ze little kid!

“’An Santa, ‘e shakes ‘is ‘ead ‘an in a jiffy ah am retrained in all zese vines and thorns, mon ami, it is not very nice at all! Ah am shouting out for Santa to listen, but ‘e is not ‘aving any of it…Ah sink it is true what zey say, eh? ‘E knows when you are sleeping, ‘e knows when you’re awake, ‘an ‘I reckon ‘e knows very well what ah ‘ave been doing when I ‘ave been awake when ah should ‘ave been sleeping, if you catch my draft, eh, mon ami?

“A’bientot! ‘Santa an’ ‘is SWAT friend proceed to give me a proper spanking, mon ami, an’ it is not a mild one, either!

[wow – Tubbius heals the single SWAT mob he’s with faster than I can damage him, and his Plant control powers keep me held and motionless, so I can’t get close to either of them. lol. I get totally mashed. I hosp, load up on inspires, and return]

“When ah ‘ave caught mah breath, I return wiz more vigour. No more ze kidding gloves for Santa, eh? Ah let zem ‘ave it, mon ami! Ze fat man goes down, an’ I leave to report back to Pistola…

“Zis time, ‘e wants me to get a troll called Graatak to break into City Hall. Ah ‘ave to convince ze big green brute zat it’s a good idea…

[I think. It’s not hugely clear to me that this is what’s happening…]

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."

Mission 3: “Hire” Graatak

[I think maybe just ‘Hire’ Graatak is enough, the doublequotes seem a bit much]

“Ooh, mon ami, zat sewer was smelling like ze dead wet dog…it was awful! Ah resolved to be in and out like ze rat in ze hencoop, wiz zis mission!

[I run through this one quickly, since Jacque’s got an excuse. I’d like to say at this juncture that I’ve noticed you using maps from the earlier (or later lol) arcs. Obviously Graatak is also an old face. You hint in the description that this arc would be played before the others. Even though it is a prequel, I’m glad I’m playing it after I’ve played the rest of the Tubbius arcs.]

“Ah run like ze wind through ze sewer, mah poor tootsies sploshing around in ze muck. Ah will never get ze stench out of mah trainers after zis!…

“In ze large chamber at ze center of ze sewer complex, ah find a big green muscular Troll. ‘E is ze one ah ‘aver to show up in order to ‘ave ‘im work for Pistola. Ah irradiate mah surroundings like ze great French screen ‘ero Pepe Le Pew, an’ soon put a sock in ‘im, as you say, eh, mon ami? ‘E agrees to sign up, an’ ah am out of zere!

[Graatak had an amusing bio, but no dialogue at all]

“Pistola ‘as a really rotten job for me to do now – ah ‘ave to go steal Santa’s Wish List from City Hall! ‘Doesn’t ze man ‘ave any scruples? What about all ze little children? What can ah do, mon ami, eh? Ah am but a little wheel in ze big machinist, non?


“Ah, it ‘as come to zis…sacking City Hall. An’ ah cannot even make mah sneaky escape into Paragon while ah am zere, because ze stupid Troll Graatak is coming wiz me to keep ‘is eyeball on top of me, eh?

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."

[/b]Mission 4: Find Tubbius’s Wish List[/b]


“Ah feel a right [sigh...the forum filtered the noun for someone who stinks] for doing zis, ah tell you…stealing ze list of toys an’ presents from ze little children to Santa! Its not right! Still, ah ‘ave to get enough money, power, influence an’ je ne sais quoi to ‘elp me get back to paragon! Ah will get zere if ah ‘ave to irradiate mah way to ze top of zis terrible pyramid of devilry an’ demand it from Lord Recluse ‘imself!

“But first things first, eh? Zis wishlist…

“Ah soon run into trouble, meeting some SWAT guys in ze first room. After ah sort zem out, Graatak appears…’e is a big old Troll and no mistaking, mon ami!

“We make our stealthy way up some stairs an’ ‘ave a confrontation wiz some members of ze local SWAT unit. Graatak makes short-legged work of zem whilst I check out ze elevators. Up a floor, and round a corner, and zere is Santas desk…it’s strange, ah always thought zat Papa Noele ‘ad a workshop at ze North Pole, not a desk at City Hall…ah well, maybe ‘e is on secondment…ah ransack ze desk an’ ah find santa’s wishlist! Ah ‘ave a quick, ‘ow you say, sneakypeeky, eh, and – SACRE POISSON! Ah am not on ze list! Ah must ‘ave been too naughty!

“Ah grab ze list ‘an we leave…

[Graatak had no dialogue again, which disappointed me. The desk was very close to the start of floor two, with no-one guarding it.]

“Outside, Pistola thanks me for setting up ze trap for Santa! What a rotter, eh, mon ami? Ah decide to ‘ave nothing more to do wiz ‘im! Desdemona is calling me, anyway…ah rub mah ‘ands in anticipation…ah like it ver’ much under ‘er bridge…maybe ah will show ‘er ze Convergence of Ze Quintuple Convoluted Cassowaries…”

[end]

Oh, poo.

I loved the original Trubbius Trilogy. There wasn’t much dialogue, but what there was was lovely. This arc feels unfinished, I’m afraid. I know it’s now supposed to be the first in the series, but I thought it was going to be more of an origin for Pistola, and not necessarily lead straight into City of Ho Ho Ho.

I think that my disappointment stems from my expectations, however, which were caused by my delightful playthrough of the later missions first.

I was expecting another new NPC from you, maybe one as memorable and loveable as Waddle. Seeing that Tubbius Claus was in the arc put an anticipatory smile on my face, but then that bio crushed me lol.

And then the paucity of dialogue in general also left me feeling a bit

I’m sorry, but it’s 3-stars for this one. Hopefully, you’ll take something positive from knowing that my disappointment had a lot to do with the fact that your other arcs are such favorites of mine.

My suggestions for making ‘another Tubbius arc that would make MCM clap his hands like a little kid in glee’ would be:

Add some dialogue to the captive objectives and maybe to Graatak.
Alter Tubbius’ bio to make his ‘Santa’ness ambiguous again.
Heh…add an NPC as cool as Waddle or Lord Mime or…agh, what was the name of the king fu kicking chicken? Him lol. That might be difficult – Waddle’s got big shoes to fill.
Get Pistola in there somewhere, I like him.


Eco.

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."

All righty, MCM. I understand.

I'll do what I can to tweak it some.

And I'm sorry about the stuffed bear. Awwwww. =(

If I get the arc adjusted, would you be up for a second run through when you get time?

smilies count as images, you can only have a max of 4.

Web of Deception, Arc ID 75310, by @Ozzie Arcane

Villainous, Long (3 small, 1 tiny, 1 unique maps). lvl range 40-54

I’ll be taking in The Dirty Promise, my lvl 50 NB/Nin Stalker.



The arc warns there may be AVs, Ebs, and Extreme AVs. 22 plays, 4 stars at start.

Dirty will be helping President Evil build a portal to an alternate dimension…

“He’d better pay well. By the look of him he can certainly afford a good resin sculptor – the skulls on his shoulders and chest must have cost a fortune. The rewards he offers are pretty vague, but he is the president of a corporation, I’ve checked, so it can’t do any harm to have him owe me a few favors I guess….

[A typo in the briefing ‘the Cirlce of Thorns’ and in President Evil’s bio, maybe change ‘Often selling weapons and other things they've developed to groups like Arachnos or low life gangs.’ to ‘His company often sells weapons and other things they've developed to groups like Arachnos or lowlife gangs.’]

“Evil wants me to retrieve a magical crystal from the Circle. Sounds easy enough. These Orenbega tunnels have all sorts of shadowy niches for me to hide in. Evil also warns me that a Succubus has the crystal, and that she’s employed some mercenaries…well, that’s something new…

[Oh, Ozzie, you’ve got the horn for MMs, haven’t you? ]

Mission 1: Defeat Sgt. Succubus and Find the Crystal

“Once inside, I wrinkle my nose at the smell of sulphur, and silently slip into the shadows…the Circle guards at the entrance never know I’m there…

[I slip through the corridors of this medium sized Oranbega map and take a left, then another left. I might be lucky in finding the boss so quickly, but here she is!]

“I spot a confident looking Succubus talking to her minions. Hm, a technophile Succubus, there’s one for the books…

[I was all ready to scoff at an MM Succubus, but your bio for her gives a perfectly fine reason for it. She uses her magic to ensnare her mercenary minions, and is amused by seeing them fight (and presumably die) for her. She’s also got a liking for guns, too.]

“ I gather myself for a moment, then I pad silently towards her, and before she notices me I strike…

[She’s a little bit harder than I’d like, accompanied by her spawn and with her mercs. I eat 4 lucks, 4 oranges, 1 yellow and a load of reds. I’m not in any danger, with all that lot, but it takes a while.]

“I spin and slash, dodge and weave. One by one her minions fall, dead as dead can be and then I dispatch her too. I prise the crystal from her lifeless fingers…and suddenly, a Longbow squad arrive, out of the blue…

[ah…LB ambush! OK, mission completes up, but I finish em off. They shouted something about ‘Agent Showtime’ as they arrived.]

“They’re nothing to me. I kill them all, barely breaking my step on my way out…

“Evil needs another item. It’s something called ‘Stabilizer V’ and Portal Corp has it. I’m going to have to get it from one of their systems. Another retrieval job. Simple...

Mission 2: Retrieve Portal Corp Tech

“The PPD are all over the Portal Corp facility…I stick to the corners…easy in, easy out, that’s my plan…

[Thank heavens for Hide! ]

“There are Crey here too, in massive numbers…I’ll avoid them too…

[Whew, I’m glad I’m not fighting my way through this lot! Although maybe with a high level Brute it would be fun…]

“I find the device guarded by some Crey. They die, their suits leaking red onto the burnished steel floor…fools…After that, I take the machine part…

“Now that Evil has both parts, he reveals what he’s going to do with them…make a portal to an alternate Earth. There are alternative versions of Statesman and Recluse there, apparently…he thinks it’ll be a good source of allies and resources…whatever…as long as he pays me…

[‘States Master and King Recluse’ – Righto! ]

“Next up, however, Evil wants me to deal with an old enemy of his, one Agent Showtime. Apparently he’s a renowned martial artist. Really? Let’s see if he’s got a defense against the Way Of The Katana Right Up The Rectum…

Mission 3: Capture Agent Showtime

“I can’t damage Showtime too much, apparently; Evil wants him alive. OK, alive it is…it’s amazing how long a torso and a head can live…Showtime is assaulting a Nemesis troop in a warehouse…I sneak through the crates and past the Nemesis soldiers, and spot Showtime and his men…

[EB plus a few LBs]

“He puts up a fair fight of it, but he’s still no match. I repeatedly push my katana through various parts of his body, and then when he’s on his knees, I reverse it and knock him out with the hilt. His men I’m not so lenient with. They all die. All of them…

[Not quite sure why I have to take out the PPD chiefs as well, tbh]

“I hear some PPD talking in the next room…talking about their stupid lives and their pretty wives…and I ghost into the room, against the wall…closer and closer…watching them, unaware, listening to them prattle about their inane little boring lives…I still me noise, hold my breath, quiet my pulse, and lean in…they don’t know how close, how near…death is to them, how little life they have left…they expect to go home tonight…they think this is just a job…Mary-Sue is waiting for them, and little Timmy too…

“They’ll wait forever. Daddy’s not coming home today.”

[I feel a bit evil slaughtering those PPD for no easily explainable reason lol]

“After leaving the dead warehouse, Evil tells me that he’ll soon be sending Showtime through the portal to the alternate dimension…

[Eh? what’s that about his son?]

“Showtime’s his son. He’s going to send him there to punish him, and he wants me to bring back his son’s evil twin to take his place at his father’s evil double’s side…and that’s where I come in.

Mission 4: Free Sinister Showtime

“I’m sent to the Mirror World on my infiltration mission to free Sinister Showtime. They’re in a parallel Arachnos Base guarded by Freedom Spiders, this worlds ‘good’ version of Arachnos.

[Lol Wrongbow is this worlds ‘evil’ version of Longbow. Diamond. However, the Nav has ‘Celestial Widow’ as an objective too. Initially I thought I had to free her too, however I think maybe she’s a boss. ‘Defeat Celestial Widow’ would be better]

“I slip unnoticed through their ranks…I find Showtime guarded by some goons. They die, quickly. An ambush arrives as Showtime heads out. My pulse doesn’t quicken as I murder them. Then, I pause…

[Um…now what? I’ve just looked through the map and can’t find anything else to do…]

“I decide to slaughter…my arrogance is my undoing. After my first silent kill, an apparition appears and I am unable to move. She holds me in place, toys with me, and then ends my life without mercy…I die…

[That last room where Showtime is isn’t great for this IMO, which is unfortunate as the maps lovely and small. He was lying on a ledge up top with two guards. I killed them, and he didn’t get up. Under the ledge was another guard, so aha, I thought, one more spawn to deal with. I killed that one and Showtime got up and ran off, and the ambush arrived, I killed that and nothing. Had a run back through the map looking for Celestial Widow. Nope. So I thought I’d kill all. The first mob back from that last room spawned GW right on top of me and I had no chance.]

[BUT – this may have been an unlucky spawn placement, and it would be unfair to downrate you for something that might have been a one-off, so after I finish the arc, I run through it again, fast, to see if the same thing happens – and it didn’t! The second time, GW was ALREADY spawned as I got there, just in front of the last room, and the spawns guarding Showtime were all up on top of the ledge with him. Which just goes to illustrate that sometimes bad luck can play a part in a review. It’s all good here, though ]

[I hosp, grab a trayful and return. Ghost Widow, lvl 50 Orange AV. Here we go…]

“…Did I say I died? I lied. I’m a ninja, remember? I temporarily stopped my heart and lowered my body temperature, feigned death so well that they assumed I’d karked it and took me to their morgue…what, you don’t believe me? I’m still here, aren’t I?

“…After killing the morgue staff, I focus and head back to where the ghost woman appeared. I notice that she’s only half corporeal…I guess I’ll have to stick her twice, then…

[OK, she was much easier that time. Unprepared the first time, obviously.]

“Time is pressing, so I leave this place and report back for my pay…

[I exit and Evil thanks me…but what’s this? He’s not giving me a reward…so I decide to raid his lab myself…lol ok.]

“Evil’s promise to pay me is a lie…he tries to fob me off with vague tales of gifts to come…I decide to help myself to some of his tech…I can sell it to cover what he owes me…

Mission 5; Raid Evil Incorporated Lab

[This is a medium sized Portal Corp map. I’m to steal three ‘goods’ and free a prisoner. It’s populated with the Big Evil custom group. The first glowy is a tiny weapons rack which was quite hard to find.]

“No need to cause a ruckus, I steal through them, looking for something small and valuable…these weapons should do…

[There’s a typo in the bio of Evil Bot ‘dopple ganger’ should be ‘doppleganger’]

“In one room, I’m careless, and the goons spot me. I have to murder them all. In the scuffle, a guy in a cape and a sort of off-colour Longbow uniform escapes…

[I find a ‘Wrongbow Bowman’ in one room, guarded by some mobs. I free him and he runs off after telling me that I look like a hero he once fought lol.]

“After that, I find some more tech components, take them, and make to leave…

[The final two pieces of swag are both in another room.

I leave and Evil is aghast at my allowing his prisoner to escape back to the Mirror World.]

“Evil confronts me as I leave. He’s not too happy, but he’s patently not eager to have a katana slice his heart into two pieces, so he merely rants as he watches me go…

[And that’s it. End}

Hm..This arc was reasonable villainous fun, but nothing I’d throw a party for I’m sorry.

Negatives first:

The difficulty level was a little hard in places but nothing I’d change, I’m a wuss, really. I’m glad I could stealth through that one with all the Crey in it lol.

The last mission seemed a bit tacked on and wasn’t very climactic. Due to the ‘Player-decision’ nature of it, there wasn’t anything telling me why I had to free the prisoner.

The story had a few ‘eh? what?’ moments, such as the reveal that Showtime is Evil’s son.

I felt that the 2 PPD Chief objectives were not given a reason for existing. If there is a reason in the briefing or text anywhere and I missed it, my apologies.

Pluses:

I’m glad it wasn’t a ‘collect 4 items and then have a Big Fight in the last mission’ arc.
‘Wrongbow’ is awesome, I’d love to see more done with those. They could be worked into an amusing Custom group, I feel.

I liked the MM Succubus a lot, she was funny and fun to fight, the second time through more than the first for some reason.

Good choice of maps for the most part.

President Evil himself is sort of growing on me tbh, lol. He’s such a cheesy villain, I especially love that he inherited the Evil Incorporated company from his dad.

Overall, although it didn’t really sparkle for me, there’s nothing to wareant a lowrate here. I’m on the cusp of 3 and 4 stars for my rating, and since I took the day off today to go cycling, which puts me in a very nice mood, let’s say 4, eh?

My suggestions for making it closer to what would suit me are:

Flesh out Wrongbow, maybe give them a named Boss
Tidy up the last mission’s briefing or put a clue in near the start to explain why the Player decides to free the prisoner – teaching Evil a lesson would be enough, I think.
Do something about the PPD Chief objectives.

Eco.

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."

Glad you enjoyed it. President Evil will be appearing in one last arc (While he's the President of Evil Incorporated, he's not the leader of Big Evil which Evil Incorporated is part of.)

Thanks for pointing out some of the errors, honestly you're the first person to play it since I made changes after I15 hit and that last mission was one I added to try to get rid of the errand boy feel most villain arcs have. There actually was a mission earlier in the arc I removed to make room for it.