Quote:
Not suggesting you give it a go unless you've got a character that you think can solo a lot of AVs, but just for the record they are in my "Task Force" along with the Domination Phalanx. I'd offer to Duo it with you if you played on Liberty.
|
Originally Posted by MrCaptainMan_NA
Wrongbow is awesome, Id love to see more done with those. They could be worked into an amusing Custom group, I feel.
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NO MORE SUBMISSIONS PLEASE
Until I've finished my current queue or ask for more, whichever comes first. I don't mean to be rude, but I'd rather have a small queue as I'm quite a bit slower than the speedy boys 
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."
|
I've sent a PM to the MAuthor of the first two arcs in my queue, as it was previous.
The current list is:
Old Ideas 216078
The Twisted Tongue 1444
Stuff 'n' Fluff! 81348
Love's Labours Lost 242292
Strife in Turmoil -65180
The Renegade Rebellion 117690
The Computer Loves You... 158813
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."
|
I've had a little hiccup with my review runs lately lol.
I'd like to reiterate my submission preferences:
No Malta
No KoA
Nothing higher than lvl 45 (and I'd prefer lvl 40 or less, tbh).
Limited slows or -Fly if possible. I grind my teeth at Knockdown, but that's my fault for not taking acro enough so i won't downrate or give up because of it
Myt preference for combat is loads of easy mobs rather than a few hard mobs. Extreme setting IMO should be saved for EBs and above. I play at heroic, so Bosses will be turned into Lieuts, and Extreme lieuts aren't on my happy list. However, I still promise to give your arc a fair bash, and if the story is compelling, I'll go to outlandish lengths to complete it.
My queue is:
The Twisted Tongue 1444
Love's Labours Lost 242292
Strife in Turmoil -65180
The Renegade Rebellion 117690
The Bestest Radio Mission Ever 1526
Dream Paper 1874
Redoubt Operations #1: Fires over Kalago 1297
Bricked Electronics 2180
There is room for another arc, as long as it fulfils the reqs posted here. One person has PMed me requesting an exception to my 45 max rule, and after discussion i've agreed, but I've got loads of lowbie-mid alts that are aching to be heard, so bring on the 1-30 arcs, please!
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."
|
The arcs I'd normally request are 45-50, so I'll ask for a slightly lower 1-mission arc. Sorry, it's still not quite a lowbie one...
The Bestest Radio Mission Ever (#1526) 35-50
1EB, a few bosses. May be able to do it on a lower level character anyway, depending on build - if you think you can take out a Chief Soldier on the character, you can probably do it.
"The Hamidon is a what what of what?" - Brian the mission guy.
Dream Paper (1874) and Bricked Electronics (2180) are both sub-20.
The Bravuran Jobs (5073) would be 20-30 except that for some reason the 30-39 villain variant Carnies aren't spawning. So they're the full-powered 40+ versions until that gets sorted out.
Up with the overworld! Up with exploration! | Want a review of your arc?
My arcs: Dream Paper (ID: 1874) | Bricked Electronics (ID: 2180) | The Bravuran Jobs (ID: 5073) | Backwards Day (ID: 329000) | Operation Fair Trade (ID: 391172)
Quote:
Lol this looks amusing from its description in the AE; I'll give it a try. |
Originally Posted by Leese
The Bestest Radio Mission Ever (#1526) 35-50
1EB, a few bosses. May be able to do it on a lower level character anyway, depending on build - if you think you can take out a Chief Soldier on the character, you can probably do it. |
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by GlaziusF
Dream Paper (1874) and Bricked Electronics (2180) are both sub-20.
The Bravuran Jobs (5073) would be 20-30 except that for some reason the 30-39 villain variant Carnies aren't spawning. So they're the full-powered 40+ versions until that gets sorted out. |
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:
[Groans]|
Originally Posted by MrCaptainMan_NA
I've had a little hiccup with my review runs lately lol.
I'd like to reiterate my submission preferences: No Malta No KoA Nothing higher than lvl 45 (and I'd prefer lvl 40 or less, tbh). Limited slows or -Fly if possible. I grind my teeth at Knockdown, but that's my fault for not taking acro enough so i won't downrate or give up because of it Eco. |
You might want to be warned then: 158813's first mission is Malta (only the first one, mind), and the level range for the whole arc is level 50 only. Apologies if you've already mentioned these conditions up-thread.
As an aside, although it is soloable (I've done it on a couple of different builds), it's really designed for teams.
If this means you don't want to review it, just let me know via PM or email. Thanks, and sorry for the mixup.
The Twisted Tongue, Arc ID 1444, by @Days Heroic, Very Long (1 small, 2 medium, 2 unique maps).
Description tells of Freakshow using a device to force everyone to speak in the mangled way that they do. Im hoping for some cracking dialogue in this, then. The level range is 20-54. Ill take in my lvl 37 Kin/Rad Defender The Accelerated Man
Arc had 50 plays, 4 stars as I started
testing, testing
[tap tap tap]
yes, that seems to be doing the thing
ahem
Alain Bejesus here, AKA The Accelerated Man, Journal X75b point fifty seven thousand
oh, Gavin, Ive just remembered
Leibniz needs to be taken to the Vets, hes sneezing a lot more than I think he should
right, where was I? Oh yes, my last mission
bit of a peculiar affair, to be honest
I was out testing out some new modifications to my feet in Steel Canyon when I received a telephone call from my old friend Professor Emeritus Cartwright
yes, we were at Eton together
hes a garrulous old sort, but a good man in a difficult debate
anyway, he needed my help, and since I was just around the corner, I popped round to see him with all due haste, as, er
he said
Anyway, apparently some ruffians had stolen some important university documents from him, and were as we spoke on their way to incinerate them. Stopping them was vital for old Carkers, as we used to call him at Bletchley. That would probably be quite dangerous, I assumed, and as I was out field testing my feet I thought I might as well give them a Situational Hostile-Incursion Test. ..
[The contact, Professor Emeritus Cartwright, has excellent, overblown dialogue. Marvellous. he also looks the business, but doesnt have a bio]
Mission 1: Get the Stolen Papers Back
Activating my new feet, I proceeded quickly to the University annex
my feet seemed to be doing the job nicely
the left one was mufting a little, and the clinker tranche in my right heel felt a smidgeon oglish, but apart from that I was good
Once inside the building, I could hear the clank and grind of Freakshow in the floors below! I had no time to lose!! I rushed down the stairs and into the basement! I found a bunch of Freakshow all right, led by a giant metal freak spouting gibberish
yet there was something oddly familiar about it
[I wont spoil it, but the Freak Leaders name is great. As soon as I saw him, I grinned wide and decided I was going to like this arc.]
They put up a spirited fight, as the Freakshow usually do, poor deluded monstrosities
you know, Gavin, I think Id like to investigate the Freakshow more oftemn
I mean, look at them, theyre horrific, arent they, some of them dont have any bowels, for heavens sake, yet theyre always so
enthiusiastic!
Well, after Id dealt with this lot, I retrieved the documents for the Professor
they were students dissertations and the like
one of the paper caught my eye
it was written in some esoteric form of mathematical formula that didnt seem to correspond to any maths language that I knew
which of course is impossible, since Im fluent in them all, even Half-Euclidean Septemporal Fento, which only makes sense on Thursdays
[LMAO AWESOME!!! The clue is brilliant]
The Professor was rather ungracious
I remember now that we also used to call him Old Grumpyknickers
and stormed off to see the students whod produced this drivel as he calls it
[lol his dialogue is pure gold. heres an example What's that? Freakshow, you say? Well, I wouldn't know anything about that. They don't publish at all, do they? ]
It turned out that this strange new language was called elite, and it was one invented by the students who had been kidnapped by the Freakshow. Cartwright wanted me to go and rescue them
it was the least I could do for an old friend, I suppose
although now that I was remembering, it seemed to me that back when we were together at CERN he was more of an acquaintance than a friend
Lord Frownyface, the interns called him
Mission 2: Rescue Students
The lead I had was pretty vague
Baumton! Thats a lot of ground to cover, eh Gavin? Still, it did provide me with some excellent results for my feet test. After some adjustment of the Frangler switch, I found that I could simultaneously boole with my left foot and cripe with my right
After a lot of warehouses, I found the right one
my new feet were doing marvelous things by now, so the Freaks didnt put up much of a fight
first I located a music student, and dismissed her guards with ease
the poor girl said something, but it was gibberish! She was speaking in that crazy abnormal elite language, Gavin!
I continued through the warehouse. The Freaks werent very welcoming, but I was happy to teach them some manners
to cut to the chase, as they say, I found the other two students and freed them too, physically sound, but their speech, Gavin! Their speech was awful! It was like some horrid garbled alien language, devoid of all sense or reason! It sounded like the babbling of the idiots in Bedlam, or the degraded scratchings of an age-old rusted machine, sandstorm wrecked and unserviced for decades
it was the shrill of the baying crowd, the cawing of crows at the execution of civilisation.
If music is the language of Love, and mathematics is the language Reason, this, Gavin, this was the language of
Morons!
[Nice mission. Only the music student had a clue, however. All the students ran off immediately upon rescue, which made their speech bubbles a little hard to read. The NPC chat caught it of course, but maybe you could stick a short thanks animation in before they run, so players get a chance to read the great amusing dialogue they have in their speech bubbles before they go. The map was quite big too, but I had so much fun clearing the Freaks (and again after they rezzed lol) that it wasnt a problem.]
It seemed that the students had had their brains altered in some unfathomable and fiendish way
I reported back to the Professor to see what he made of it
I remember he always had an amazingly sharp mind when we were working at The Pentagon together
[Lol the dialogue from the Prof cracks me up
and I admit, Im really hoping that something happens to his dialogue later on
]
[LMAO Whilst I was playing this arc, BTW, I got a blind invite from someone called I3aden you couldnt make it up could you?]
The Professor told me that the students had been interviewed, but only the fellows from the IT department could understand them
they said that theyd been abducted from the student council offices
obviously, that was the next line of enquiry
Mission 3: Investigate Student Council Offices
So it was a matter of seconds to force entry into the student council offices
I had to investigate
and the building was swarming with Freaks! Luckily, my feet really were proving worth their weight in impervium. The flanging on the left one was still a little harsh, but the gribble thrufter of my right instep was working a charm! Gavin, it was almost like that time in Vancouver, haha!
ah
where was I?
Ah yes
after some Freakwork, I discovered a giant hole dug into the floor
its astonishing how many office buildings in Paragon have had unauthorized excavation work, isnt it
this hole led to some caverns, which in turn led to the sewers
that must have been how the Freaks gained access to the building, I guess
anyway, deep in these sewers I encountered an old safe, with recent signs of use
then lock was childs play, really
it contained schematics of a machine of some sort
seemed likely to have a scrambling effect on the brains neural pathways
[Im loving this arc]
Deeper into the sewer I went, Gavin
and there; in the depths, I found the twisted genius behind this whole fiendish plot. He was a Freakshow boss, and his plan, it seemed, was to use his grotesque device, the Tongue-Twister, to broadcast a signal that would change the entire worlds neural language centers so that we would all end up speaking this appalling elite speak! I had to stop him!
So I did! He gabbled at me in his squawking lingo as he fell
telling me
I think
the location of the fiendish machine!
[lol The Boss is wonderful. Anyway, tragically, its now far too late and Ive got work tomorrow, so Ive got to finish this off another session. Ive already played too long since Im enjoying it so much lol]
[And as if by magic, its tomorrow! The weekend stretches out in front of me, an oasis of booze, loose women, fast cars, jetskis, and gold. In my dreams. On with the review]
With the cretinous villain defeated, I rushed back to the professor
it was worse than I thought the device was due to activate within the half-hour! If it wasnt destroyed, it would mean that everyone in the world would be forced to speak in that disgusting brainless cacophonic babble! Think of it Gavin; nothing but the rabid gibbering hoots of idiots, with their powning and their futuwing and lolling! It was enough to give me the screaming abdabs! It had to be stopped!
Mission 4: Stop the Broadcast
I rushed to the area of town that the Freak had divulged
there were enough freaks around, for sure
but I had no time to lose! I activated my superfeeterator, and quartered the area at high speed. I encountered another Freak leader, who put up a short fight, and then the machine itself. There were a few Freaks guarding it, but Im not ashamed to say that I was quite hyped up, Gavin, and so they were but a mild distraction. I smashed the devil out of that diabolical contraption
and then things turned a little bit weird. When I was on my way back to the professor, the people I ran past were all speaking leet! What had I done? The professor was too; I couldnt understand a word of what he was saying! I had to resort to scribbling on a pad to communicate with the poor deranged buffoon
and then the horrific truth was revealed to me it was not he whose linguistic neural pathways had been bastardized to those of a lobotomized ape it was I! I sounded like an absolute moron, Gavin. Me, three times Nobel Prize winner, reduced to talking like a total numpty! Is there anything, Gavin, any noise, any sound in the entire world, which more evokes the utter absence of intellect than that perfidious blather? I think not. It was awful
Id made a horrible mistake when I trashed the machine I was only required to switch it off! Something had to be done. Luckily, the Professors colleagues had a possible answer
[lol excellent. What I hoped for has happened. Lovely. One typo (lol), mY t3chn0l0g1c4l c0Lleg35 should be mY t3chn0l0g1c4l c0Lle4g35, I think?]
Mission 5: Follow Cartwrights Instructions
[The briefing had me hooting with laughter.]
at least, I hoped they had a possible answer
the thing was, I couldnt really understand what the Professor was saying after his intitially telling me that I shouldnt have destroyed the machine
the damage to my brain must have been getting worse! he was pointing to the science department, so I assumed that was where Id find help. Sure enough, there were Freaks inside
maybe they could give me information on how to reverse the terrible imbecelic damage to my brain
[cool
I like the way this is set out.]
I soon found some Freaks willing to talk
and I/m ashamed to say that I found them all to easy tom understand
it was almost as though they were talking in an erudite and clear fashion! They were discussing the destruction of something
I continued
[lol the Freaks are speaking normally. Great. It doesnt make much sense, tbh, but its funny as hell, so /thumbs up ]
Up a floor, I met another Freak boss, and this one sounded even more intelligent to my obviously now dangerously stupid ears. He was also talking about destroying something
I reasoned that this was maybe what the Professor was trying to direct me to
and the Freaks were trying to destroy it!
[really nice to see these bosses from earlier in the arc back. Good map, too.]
Finally, I rushed into a lab to find a bunch of Freaks about to dismantle a strange humming device
this had to be it! I set about them with an absolute air of desperation! It was like a scrum, Gavin! There were quite a few of them but I was defending something very important; my mind!
[wow, hard fight, that. Boss and a crowd of Freaks. Good fun though, and I didnt die, so its all good]
I prevailed
well, obviously I did, or you wouldnt be hearing this now, youd be hearing the mangled bleatings of a dimwit. When I returned to the professor, there was a moment of fright when his speech seemed to still be in that awful patois, but it slowly returned to normal as my neural network reasserted itself. That was such a relief, Gavin, you cant imagine
. And thats it! So, tidy it up and print it off as usual, theres a good chap
oh, and make a sidenote
left foot seems to have developed a slight twitch in big toe
possibly the creniflex bassoon needs oscillating
Alain Bejesus, The Accelerated Man, signing off
right
wheres the ..ah-
[end]
A cracking arc, this. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. The dialogue is absolute diamond stuff. The maps are the right size, I love fighting Freakshow, the objectives were simple and yet not too sparse, and I was laughing like a drain for loads of it. If your Players are grinning like loons for 90% of your arc, youre not doing much wrong. Its even got a great title. 5-stars.
Suggestions to improve it:
Give each of the rescued students a clue and a short animation to stall them long enough so that the Player can read their speech bubbles..
er, thats all I can think of lol. It was great.
Eco.
PS new colour for my out of character comments ok?
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."
|
Queue now:
The Renegade Rebellion 117690
The Bestest Radio Mission Ever 1526 (shifted up to avoid use of AM twice in a row)
Love's Labours Lost 242292
Dream Paper 1874
Redoubt Operations #1: Fires over Kalago 1297
Bricked Electronics 2180
Going cycling today, so will get onto these tonight.
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."
|
Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed it. Seems to be a perfect character choice to play the arc.
I had thought I had given the professor a bio but obviously not; I shall look into correcting it.
Well done on spotting that typo, I would NEVER have caught it; please let it be the last one.
I shall investigate the animations for the hostages, you have a very good point there.
I had hoped the reason for the freaks eventually speaking 'normally' was obvious but perhaps not. As you find yourself unable to understand the professor suddenly the freaks speech becomes understandable... or am I missing something?
Did you read the scarily long souvenier?
Thanks again.
The OOC speech colour works for me btw.
Quote:
Looks ok to me on the villain skin, though the pic is a little wide for my resolution, you might want to crop/resize it. Love the look of the character though, very nice. Also love the ability to embed images and edit old posts, I've been spending way too much time fixing up my Time Shifter thread with embedded images (am editing every pic for the size issue, and many are too dark)
|
Originally Posted by MrCaptainMan_NA
PS new colour for my out of character comments ok?
|
Quote:
GRAHH! I keep on forgetting to read everyone's souvenirs! I'm putting a sticky note on my monitor now.|
Originally Posted by Days_
Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed it. Seems to be a perfect character choice to play the arc.
I had thought I had given the professor a bio but obviously not; I shall look into correcting it. Well done on spotting that typo, I would NEVER have caught it; please let it be the last one. I shall investigate the animations for the hostages, you have a very good point there. I had hoped the reason for the freaks eventually speaking 'normally' was obvious but perhaps not. As you find yourself unable to understand the professor suddenly the freaks speech becomes understandable... or am I missing something? Did you read the scarily long souvenier? Thanks again. The OOC speech colour works for me btw. |
Just read your souvenir, and it was very funny. Have an extra star
One thing though, the souvenir's title is 'Tretsie on the discombolation etc' Treatise, I guess?I did get the reason for the Freaks speaking 'normally', or at least i think I did. What i got from it was that AMs brain was being altered so that he was able to understand the leet, so it was sounding normal to him. Obviously, the Player can't be expected to understand the senseless yammering of that godawful excuse for a language
, so the 'normal english' was merely a translation of that for my benefit 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:
/headslap|
Originally Posted by Bubbawheat
Looks ok to me on the villain skin, though the pic is a little wide for my resolution, you might want to crop/resize it. Love the look of the character though, very nice. Also love the ability to embed images and edit old posts, I've been spending way too much time fixing up my Time Shifter thread with embedded images (am editing every pic for the size issue, and many are too dark)
|
I can put images into my Audition:Writer's commentary thread, cant I!
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."
|
The Renegade Rebellion, Arc ID 117690, by @Lord Mayhem
Very Long (3 unique, 2 large maps). Neutral. Lvl 1-15 Description tells of renegade members of various gangs rioting in Skyway. 27 plays, 4-stars as I start
Ill be using my lvl 5 DB/WP scrapper Ragtime Smith for this one.
Take it away, Ragtime!
I try to stay out of Skyway City as a rule
I dont like all those mile-high roads. It dont feel like a place where anyone could call home, you know? I likes it here in Kings Row. But crime don care where it pops its ugly head up, it seems. I was on my way home yesterday, when this big ol golden caddy with blacked-out windows pulled up
I couldnt see who xactly was inside, but he said he was some sort of businessman, and there were riots in Skyway preventing his delivery trucks from getting through
Seems to me that someone who could afford a big old car like that could afford to hire some security, but rioters have a habit of hurtin innocent people as well as smashing up store fronts, so I reckoned Id head on over to Skyway an see what I could do to help
[Briefing definitely comes over as Neutral the contacts tone is quite condescending, and his bio suggests he might be King Midas or one of his lieutenants]
Mission 1: Disperse The Riot
When I got to the area, there was a riot going on, surely
I spotted all sorts of no-gooders running amuck
Mooks, Hellions, Council, even some dressed up like the Fifth Column
aint seen the likes o them for a good while now
I done me some cleaning up
[Skyway roadway map, lots of truck and car objects around, various groups of mobs, nice. I basically Clear All, even though I dont have to.]
I worked my way up the express ramp, putting the rioters down as I go
They were set to smash up vehicles, throwing stuff around, burning and shouting
some of them were more mouthy than the others, I took special care of them
I also found a Police Officer bein held by a bunch of the rioters wavin placards
peaceful, they said
then attacked me
heh, idiots
the officer told me hed seen them all comin out of some warehouse
[I was enjoying that a lot, its nicely set up. I basically worked my way from the start up the ramp, as I have done in canon arcs featuring this map, and that was my undoing lol. Basically I reached Freddy, rescued him, and Id been clearing all on my wayt, but whent I got to him, I still had 1 out of 4 riot leaders to defeat. To cut a long story short, I spent a long time trying to find him, dropped down to the utter bottom of that map, looked in loads of crevices etc. I got to the point where I was considering it bugged, sent you a PM in game (your inbox is full btw), and then started to really clear all with a sigh. I found the 4th boss very close to the start of the map, but on a much lower level. At lvl 5 I dont have any travel powers, so it was a bit of a trawl around. Some players might give up before I did. I know that outside maps have issues with spawn placement, but maybe theres an animation effect you could use to make the leaders stand out a bit more. The green glowing gas clouds are probably going too far, but that 4th one was a hellion maybe a boombox wouldnt be out of place, for example. I leveled whilst doing it, though ]
As I was crackin a few last heads, that car pulled up again
the guy inside was none too polite, so I ignored him. I figured Id go check out the warehouse that the Officerd told me was involved
guess my curiosity aint as old as my feet, heh, I sure do seem to do a lot o running around this town
[The debriefing is well-written and typo free, but the tone annoyed me. Its definitely Midas or one of his henchmen in there, and hes ordering me around like a lackey. Luckily for him, Ragtime is intrigued by the warehouse lead]
Officer Hellis took me to Kings Row
back on my own turf, I liked that
and showed me where the warehouse was. The car had followed us there, but I ignored it when the rich idiot inside started tryin to tell me something. My daddy always said You give the Horn of Gabriel to a fool, hell only make it squawk, an thats what this guy sounded like to me
Mission 2: Search For Clues. Find Leader
Well, the place was full of Clocks, o course
This is Kings Row, after all, heh
I didnt mind, I likes to play with the Clockwork
Its all practice, heh
while I was clearing out that warehouse, I found some interestin things
bits n pieces of info here and there, on whiteboards, in safes an suchlike
[Great mission, this. The clocks are perfect for Ragtime. The maps the Clockwork Kings warehouse one, and its nice running around clearing them out, hitting a few clues here and there. I take my time]
It looked like the various members of the different groups only really had one thing in common, they didnt like being beaten up by heroes, all the time. Theyd banded together for a while, and a Council leader called Archon Rogers had tried to get them to act as one
that didnt work too well
I rescued a man called Frank, who told me most of it
[Nice. I got 6 bars on that mission! ]
I figured this Archon had better be brought in. I dont like folks stirrin up trouble in my town, especially not that close to Kings Row. Frank told me that Archon was set up in an old research institute compound in Eastgate Bay, outside the City
he was planning to take his rebels out of the City on a ship
it was a little further than I usually like to travel, but heck, I thought that maybe the sea aird do me some good, anyway
[The contacts debriefing and his briefing for the next mission again, the writing is good enough, but the tone is too offhand/condescending for me and for Ragtime, so he ignores it]
Mission 3: Find Archon Rogers
[The entry popup explains why theres an Arachnos Flyer here, its quite neat]
Well, Im not sure about this place being too healthy
the air was refreshing, alright, but the compound was crawling with strange critters, like the Creature from the Black lagoon
They werent friendly. I guess I made sushi out of em, heh, yeah, looking for information. I found some Council too, and some Hellions
ex-Hellions, I guess. They werent happy either. Nothing else was outside, so I went inside looking for Rogers
There were more of those strange fish-things inside
kinda human-shaped, but with bits of coral growing out of them
One of them called out a name before I killed it
a little ways further in I found one of the renegades. He wasnt very cooperative until I took out his men and disarmed him, and then he wouldnt shut up, heh
before I took him to show me where Archon had gone, I got him to play me a transcript of a ship-to-shore from the ship that Archon was going to ship the rebels out on; it was short, but clear; the fish-men had swamped the ship and sunk it
nasty
[Another nice mission for hovering up the XP I leveled again.]
That fool in the car was kerb-crawlin outside
I left him to his jibber-jabber while I hauled the stooge off. He led me to The Hollows, to a safehouse there
[Please dont be offended by my apparent dismissal of the contacts briefings. Ragtimes running the show, mostly]
Mission 4: Find Archon Rogers
Again
When I got to this safehouse, I could hear screams an fighting sounds as soon as I got in. I jogged into the building with my swords out
I soon found something
an outcast and an ex-Council trying to get out
they were frightened of rock things, they said
Archon Rogers had been trying to use an escape tunnel but it collapsed
I reckoned Id better check out the tunnel
crims they may have been, but dyin under rock without seeing the sky aint no way for a man to go
Sure enough, a ways further in I found a huge hole in the floor leading to some caverns
an sure enough, there was rock creatures comin out of the ground! Some was made of rock, some was made from red-hot lava, looked like, steaming and acrid to smell. Made my eyes water, the sulphur coming off em
Took a lot more stabbing before they got the message too
Heh..them grey buggers were fast little runners, too, Ill give em that
hordes of em down there in those caves
Deep, I went
found a large chamber deep under, with a crowd of the things and one frightened Councilman
I cracked my knuckles for good luck and waded into the rock
It was a close one, but I got em all out of my way and questioned the Council. He wasnt Rogers
said the Council had sent him here to capture Rogers too
then some more of the things erupted outta the damn floor, and he escaped while I was busy with them
I kept looking for clues
[hmm
must have missed something
Nav still says Look for Clues
I thought Id checked everything out on my way in
]
After searching the half dug tunnel for an age, I headed back out to the light again, and on my way I took a wrong turning somewhere
which was lucky, cos I found a laptop left behind on a balcony
there was a message on it, Rogers had gone to Northcliff Peninsula for more troops
I was starting to dislike this guy for making me run all over the whole damn City after him!
[OK, I think I know what happened. Either I missed it the first time cos it was up on a high gantry (and first, I met the clue telling me to go check out the tunnel for Archon Rogers, so I didnt really explore this area much), or it didnt spawn till after I met the false Rogers. Either way, its a quite big map to backtrack on a toon with no travel power, so you might want to think about that.]
Find Archon Rogers
woah, déjà vu!
[I have to say, I dont like that mission title. its too flippant for the tone of the rest of the mission, IMO. Also, the debriefing and briefing for the next mission leaves me a bit cold Im sorry. The contact says hes going to take Rogers back to the Rogue Islands after I extract him. Thats not very heroic, to my mind. Its not particularly neutral, either, IMO, whatever Neutral means. Ragtime chooses to totally ignore the contact this time]
A friend of mine with a fishin boat gives me a ride out from Talos into the sea
to Northcliff Peninsula
he takes me at dusk, so we arrive at around 2 in the morning
a nights questioning of the local lowlife gets me a location at around dawn
its a cave under an old Fort on the cliff top
supposed to be haunted, parrently
well, we all got ghosts, dont we?
The cave was wet, dark, and scary
weird noises, strange smells, that sort of stuff
A little after Id entered, I was attacked by some of those coral things
and as I was fighting them, the ghosts came screaming out of the ground
it was madness
the coral things were easy enough to deal with, but ghosts? Lucky I had my swords blessed by a Hoodoo priestess back in 32. Even so, its hard going with all the screamin and wailing and ectoplasm going everywhere, heh
[phew
another big map, this
]
[really big lol]
I didnt see no more of the Coral things after that
tunnel after tunnel, cave after cave
ghosts
crying, screaming, the angry dead of centuries past trying to take out their rage on me
sad
I found an old chest, half rotted from the ages
when I opened it all was in there was a bunch of slimy stinkin material
maybe used to be silk
useless now
them ghosts went crazy trying to stop me talking it
as if I would
poor lost souls
[I guess it did say Large in the map description for this one lol.]
Finally
[lol in the very last offshoot cave. Typical ]
Finally I find Rogers
in a cave, surrounded by the hordes of hungry dead
leading them are 2 hideous looking specters
the leaders of the ghostly pirates, it seemed
I laid them to rest with their fellows
[I LOVE Captain Blackheart and First Mate Bolo, they were a lovely little surprise at the end of the mission
ah, except it wasnt the end lol
]
Archon Rogers was done in, almost
he didnt object when I told him he was coming with me
[Escort
lol Ive already cleared the map, so
]
I led him to the exit, an just as we arrived, a bunch of real Council burst in
thinking they was going to take him from me
heh, wrong
When theyre done thinking that, I let the last of em crawl away and lead Rogers out. My friend returned for me at dusk, as agreed, and once wewere back in Paragon, Rogers went to the Zig and I went home for my supper and a looong sleep.]
[That last bit, with the escort and then the ambush triggering with the arrival at the exit, was a bit anticlimactic. Heres a suggestion make the map smaller, and have Rogers rescue trigger a few (or a lot if you want) Council patrols in the map, plus an ambush to deliver the hold it, hes ours! dialogue. Then, the escort will be a running the gauntlet affair instead of a silent free run if the Players been clearing on the way in. Making the map smaller will avoid fatigue, doing it on that map would have tired me out I think. I was ready to finish it when I found Rogers.]
[End]
OK, overall, Top banana. I went from lvl 5 to lvl 8 during your arc, so that was cool.
Pluses: I liked the story, there were a nice selection of different mob groups to fight, and the map choice was fine. Captain Blackbeard was awesome, Id be happy to see him again.
Negative: I really didnt like the contact. His dialogue was well written and typo free, but to me it didnt gel with a hero. Ive been trying to work out what neutral means, recently, and Im not happy with it, tbh. My heroes dont want money for their actions, and villains dont want to either be told what to do or to do good. To readers who havent played this, the stuff about Ragtimes fisherman friend was invented by him; the arc has the contact, supplying a ferry etc, and he takes Rogers away to I guess Arachnos justice? In fact, bizarrely enough, I found myself having to invent proactive ways to get the information delivered to me by the contact quite a few times. This isnt a criticism of the arc, Im just pointing out that it didnt fit with Ragtimes motivation particularly. Its a strength of the arc that I was into it enough to help it keep me going.
Suggestions: Give the leaders easier-to spot animations in Mission 1
Possibly reduce the size of the last map byt half and have the Council patrols in it as I suggested earlier. Thatd be quite a change, though, so Im only tentatively suggesting it lol. Its your arc after all
Finally, I have to say that while the missions themselves felt heroic, the contacts briefings and debriefings felt more aimed at villains.
Its this disparity that knocks my rating down from 5 stars to the 4-stars I eventually gave. The contact aside, I had a ball doing this arc. Ive said before, if I find myself Clearing All when I dont have to, just because Im having so much fun, then youre definitely doing something right.
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."
|
The Bestest Radio Mission Ever, Arc ID 1526, by @Leese. Short (1 large map), heroic, lvl 35-54. Contains 1 EB, and is a chance to find out whos flooding the market with PLOT Devices and Oberation Oscillthrusters
[is that a typo? I remember the PLOT Device from a radio, but not the second one.]
120 plays, 4-stars as I started
Ill take Tommy Atkins, my lvl 31 MA/SR Scrapper in
I ad a right fun case the other day. I was faffin wiv me Police scanner, an I gets a call from a detective I sometimes gives leads to. Ed bin workin on tryin ter crack a gang o restricted artifact dealers
anyway, ed got a lead, finally, an wanted me ter go an arrest the gangleader. This bloke was called MacGuffin, an e was oled up in a warehouse Thered probably be some customers there too, makin a nice little bouquet o bad guys fer Tommy to get an old of. Loverly Jubberly!
[The briefing sets this up clearly, no complaints]
Mission 1: Arrest the Smugglers
The warehouse is fair bustin with bad guys! Almost from the off Im in up ter me elbows. I was needin a workout, ter be honest, so I decides ter work me way slowly around the place sortin them out one by one. I as a rule I follers in these sort of situations
fairs fair, if they don give me any lip or grief, I leaves em alone. If they looks at me funny or tries it on, well I gives em a slap.
[The warehouse is indeed nicely full of the custom smuggler mobs. I count 6 different types! They all have well-written bios and good costumes, and their powersets are nicely balanced for Tommy. Not too hard, not too easy.]
I almost wore me fists out, all the slappin I ad ter do in the place. None of em wanted ter just agree ter differ, if yer gets me drift
but it wasnt just smugglers I met in there. I also found some o their customers, needin a reminder of why its naughty ter go skulkin round warehouses tryin ter buy ookey gear. First of all, I met some Crey geezers, talkin about a liquid computer or summink. After Id decked em, I got an email on me iPhone from Crey, thankin me fer arrestin their rogue employees! Typical of Crey ter make a fast cover up! They wasnt the only ones in there lookin fer dodgy deals, either. There was Council, Thorns, all sorts!
Blimey, it was a bit dicey at one point I was explainin ter a bird in a jungle hat wavin twin blades around ow unladylike she was bein, when a bloody great Rikti officer appears out o nowhere, shoutin my name, an attacks me too! I was like Wait yer turn, yer rude bugger!
so I ad ter old im off with one and while I finished off the bird
[Id like to point out your Dealer mobs for special praise, because theyre MMs, which I normally dread. Here, though, they only summon one minion. Thank you for not making them extreme/extreme and hence Get Right Up My Nose ]
Confiscatin all the stolen goods as I went woulda been an andful fer Tommy, so I made a note of em and left em there fer collection by the Rozzers afterwards
[The stolen goods collectibles and clue drops from various mobs are very nice. Amusing and typo free. An example: This scepter belonged to Mot, the Carthaginian deity of death and sterility. You make a note not to keep it in your pocket.]
Durin me jog through the buildin, I found some innocents ter help as well. A detective, a video game programmer, an more
As if these smugglers werent already bad enough oldin hostages
Tch!
[lol the video game programmers dialogue is funny]
Finally, I got me ands on the villain behind it all
Matrtin MacGuffin! E was a big ol bloke with a hefty sword, but e was no match fer me now that I ad an ead of steam built up
Wallop! Down e went like a sack of spuds
Thank you very much. An that was that! I did a bit of tidyin up on me way out, an chalked up another win fer the good guys. Jellied Eels all round, eh, an a singsong on the old Joanna!
[end]
Wicked. Thoroughly enjoyed that. If I was Goldilocks, this would be Baby Bears arc. Positives: The map wasnt too big or too small, the mobs werent too easy or too challenging, the objectives were simple but not minimalist, just varied enough but not overpowering or endless, the text and dialogue was carefully written but not snoozy War and Peace stuff, and the mission finished at about exactly the same time as I was getting ready to have had enough.
Negatives: /scratches head
er
the map does feature a split into two branches, and if the Player takes the left one first its possible that he or she might not then encounter MacGuffin as the final objective, but, well, thats not really a great problem, is it?
Ive got no complaints at all about this fun little arc. 5 stars.
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."
|
Queue now:
Love's Labours Lost 242292
Dream Paper 1874
Redoubt Operations #1: Fires over Kalago 1297
Bricked Electronics 2180
I'm looking forward to another of 'AM's War Stories', lol, so I have high hopes for Love's Labours Lost!
I see that some kind fan of my thread has tagged it 'hugfest'! Aw, that gives me a warm glow. Thanks, whoever you were!
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."
|
Thanks for the review, MCM! I'm glad you enjoyed the arc. A few responses:
"Oberation Oscillithruster" is the correct spelling I believe. I have no idea what it is either.
In addition to the 3 minions and 3 LTs you saw, there are 3 bosses. (Computer Hacker, Crooked Cop and Thief Assassin.) I occasionally think of adding them to the arc as forced boss spawns so solo people will see them, but I imagine the map has enough bosses already.
Glad you liked the clues etc. They're pretty much the main point of the arc IMO. I hope you read the souvenir.
Thanks again for the review
"The Hamidon is a what what of what?" - Brian the mission guy.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Leese
Thanks for the review, MCM! I'm glad you enjoyed the arc. A few responses:
"Oberation Oscillithruster" is the correct spelling I believe. I have no idea what it is either. In addition to the 3 minions and 3 LTs you saw, there are 3 bosses. (Computer Hacker, Crooked Cop and Thief Assassin.) I occasionally think of adding them to the arc as forced boss spawns so solo people will see them, but I imagine the map has enough bosses already. Glad you liked the clues etc. They're pretty much the main point of the arc IMO. I hope you read the souvenir. Thanks again for the review |
Aw, I'm a bit sad now that I didn't see the bosses I missed. Ah well.
I forgot to mention that Tommy got a very healthy dose of XP whilst doing your arc, so cheers for that too!
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:
It's an Oscillation Overthruster with the serial numbers filed off.|
Originally Posted by Leese
"Oberation Oscillithruster" is the correct spelling I believe. I have no idea what it is either.
|
I don't believe it's a recovery, you have to save Dr. Prinny from the BBI who refuses to divulge the secrets of same.
Up with the overworld! Up with exploration! | Want a review of your arc?
My arcs: Dream Paper (ID: 1874) | Bricked Electronics (ID: 2180) | The Bravuran Jobs (ID: 5073) | Backwards Day (ID: 329000) | Operation Fair Trade (ID: 391172)
Quote:
Anyone who doesn't get the reference is made of fail.
|
Originally Posted by GlaziusF
It's an Oscillation Overthruster with the serial numbers filed off.
I don't believe it's a recovery, you have to save Dr. Prinny from the BBI who refuses to divulge the secrets of same. |
Quote:
Cursa you, Lazarusa NA
|
Originally Posted by Lazarus_NA
Anyone who doesn't get the reference is made of fail.
|
Quote:
I honestly seem to recall both a recovery and a rescue with the same homage. One of my favourite homages in the game.
|
Originally Posted by GlaziusF
It's an Oscillation Overthruster with the serial numbers filed off.
I don't believe it's a recovery, you have to save Dr. Prinny from the BBI who refuses to divulge the secrets of same. |
I dont. Know what rhis is referring to, so id love An explanation or a link
Eco
EDIT Ooh, Its from Buckaroo Banzai! Awesome.
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."
|
I'd like to request a review of my arc please.
Arc #158813: The Computer Loves You...