Secret Knowledge of the Ancient Architects of Mu

Leif_Roar · 04-27-2009 09:19 AM

A recent breakthrough in the study of Linear-A has led to several hitherto undeciphered clay tablets could be read and translated. Imagine the scholarly excitment when it became apparent that the tablets did not, as was commonly believed, hold accounts of the royal treasury and financial records, but were instead remnants of long lost books from the lost continent of Mu.

The world's governments and the Papal High Inquisitor immediatly took action: confiscated the tablets and all known copies and prohibited any discussion of their contents. Immediately, but not before hand-written notes were smuggled out by archaeologists disguised as wild mountain sheep.

Three of the four brave archaeologists who undertook this hazardous trek perished, two ending their scholarly careers as moussaka and one as a succulent souvlakia. The fourth archaeologist however escaped with only a minor shearing, and that's why we can now share with you all the secret knowledge of the ancient architects of Mu:

Write the souvenir first

Start making a mission arc by writing its souvenir, and write the souvenir as the ones in the game: as a story of what happened in the arc. This way you have the arc all mapped out from start to finish before you get into the details of making the characters and designing the missions, and you know in advance what ending you are working towards.

The most important text

The most important text of your arc is its title. Not only is the title people's first impression of your arc, it is your first and only chance of getting their attention. If your title can't catch people's attention in less than two seconds, it's too late. Their eyes have already gone on to the next title in the list, and they won't even read your description.

Make your title count. Use whatever cheap trick you can think: alliteration, rhyme, paraphrasing, popular idioms or even internet memes. Hook them, catch their eye, get them interested. But, and this is important, don't cheat: your title has to be an accurate reflection of your story. Don't name your dark and twisted story about CoT demonworship "Have raygun, will travel." If the story doesn't deliver what the title has promised, people will feel disappointed and betrayed and they won't like your story.

The most important character

The most important character in a story arc is the one you don't write. It's the player's character: the hero or villain who plays your arc. He[1] is the main character, the protagonist, the one who is supposed to drive the story. All your characters are just the supporting cast. Their job is to make the player feel their character is important.

Don't have your characters talk down to the player's character, be blaze about them or patronize them or treat them as if they're not important (unless it's obvious from the rest of the story that your character is utterly, horribly wrong in doing so.) Make sure the player's character makes an impact on the NPCs: your characters should be impressed, surprised, awed, terrorised or shocked by the player's character. They should feel grateful towards them, get angry at them, deplore them, love them, fear them, trust them, worry about them or worship them.

The player's character is the focal point. Your entire story arc should be centered around the him[2].

Dot your i's and cross your t's

Put in the work. The last 20% of your story arc is going to take 80% of the time, at the very least, but it is worth it. Polish, polish, polish. Add descriptions and clues, fix the grammar mistakes and the punctuation, correct the canon errors, tighten the contact dialogues and the NPC texts, fine-tune ambush sizes and enemy costumes. Wax on. Wax off. Repeat until done. Then do it some more.

Whitespace, whitespace, whitespace

Too much whitespace is nearly enough. Whitespace is punctuation. Whitespace makes text readable particularly on a computer screen. So add the vanir-blooded whitespace!

[1] Or, rather, $HeShe
[2] Yes, yes. $himher

khaine_star · 04-27-2009 10:06 AM

Excellent. There should be more guides for MA written.

Leese · 04-27-2009 10:13 AM

Fantastic post. 5-stars, 25 tickets.

"The Hamidon is a what what of what?" - Brian the mission guy.

Judgement_Dave · 04-27-2009 10:21 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Too much whitespace is nearly enough.

[/ QUOTE ]
Aye - Really wish they'd make the double the horizontal break it currently uses - I never use a single one unless it's the difference between publishable size and unpublishable size.

[ QUOTE ]
Polish, polish, polish.

[/ QUOTE ]
But there's no servers for that! English, French or German's your lot.

By my mohawk shall ye know me!
my toons
Funny: Ee-Ai-Ee-Ai-Oh! #3662 * The foul-mouthed Handyman! #1076 * City of Norms #132944
Serious: To Save A Single World (#83744) * Marketing Opportunity (#83747)

Bovine_Avenger · 04-27-2009 10:42 AM

Agree with most of it, but I seriously disagree with the part about "The Most Important Character". If people enjoyed only one form of entertainment, it would be accurate, but as they clearly enjoy many different forms where their character not only isn't central but isn't even present (Movies, watching sports) the truly important thing is to get people to engage in the plot... Give them a fantastic story and they should find it enjoyable even if they've got a secondary role in it. Just don't make them clearly the basis for someone ELSE'S plot; that is, don't leave them as the sidekick for a story that tells everyone how awesome the author's own hero is...

Leese · 04-27-2009 10:47 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Too much whitespace is nearly enough.

[/ QUOTE ]
Aye - Really wish they'd make the double the horizontal break it currently uses - I never use a single one unless it's the difference between publishable size and unpublishable size.

[/ QUOTE ]

Simple solution: offer a tag, which puts in the equivalent of

"The Hamidon is a what what of what?" - Brian the mission guy.

3dent · 04-27-2009 10:52 AM

#1, - Write the PLAN first. Plsan ought to explain not just the story, but how you plan to tell it (maps you need, custom mobs, if any, key clues, etc.)

Story is important, but if midway through arc building you'll discover that there's no map exactly like you need, or you need to swap mobs/objectives/whatever to avoid bugs story would need changes. (not necessarily for the worse. Most of plot twists in my arcs grew out of workarounds for MA limits.) That plan would still most probably be altered beyond recognition at the end, but as they say "Plans are worthless, but planning is everything."

Whether an arc should have a souvenir at all or not may be debatable too, - I personally don't care about MA souvenirs as a player, and unless the arc is extremelly canon-aligned, won't bother writing them either...

JamieB · 04-27-2009 10:57 AM

I cordially disagree, Bovine; movies and sports are a passive viewing experience where the viewer of necessity cannot be directly engaged in the action; MMORPGs require the player to, er, play (PL monkeys notwithstanding).

To be fair, the above doesn't contradict your point that it is possible to construct a story so well-written that the player *not* being the focus of it doesn't matter...

...But from personal MA experience most of those kinds of stories (frequently toon-origin type stories) are simply NOT well-written enough for it not to matter.

Further, a couple I've played (and low-starred) consist almost entirely of the contact directly insulting your player for the entire arc's duration, which is not a massive incentive to play the arc to completion (to say the least).

Cancelled in Three - MA ID #34608. Please play and comment! Top 10 placing in Projectionist's MA contest!

Tangler · 04-27-2009 11:09 AM

I haven't read through yet - though you should really change the title. I thought this was advertising an arc of yours.

A Penny For Your Thoughts #348691 <- Dev's Choice'd by Dr. Aeon!
Submit your MA arc for review & my arcs thread

Bovine_Avenger · 04-27-2009 11:36 AM

Well Dr_Octagonopus, I'd suggest that's more a limitation of imagination and implementation; to give you an example of what I'm thinking of, whilst CoH is indeed interactive, does it really matter where that interaction occurs? For instance, wouldn't a single participant in (say) the battle for Minas Tirith have to stay just as focused during the day whether he's a footslogger or Gandalf? What differs is the story they tell afterwards about their own experiences, not their billing in the narative; and a good story teller could put you in either role and make it satisfying... so as long as he tells it well, and gives you enough to do, does it really matter if your actions are central or not?

JamieB · 04-27-2009 11:53 AM

I think we're making more or less the same point, Bovine.

I'm not discounting the possibility of a well-written MA arc where one's toon is not central to the story, simply stating that from my own experience, I have yet to play such an arc. If any leap to mind, by all means please post 'em here or in the recommendation thread, and I'll be happy to revise my preconceptions

Cancelled in Three - MA ID #34608. Please play and comment! Top 10 placing in Projectionist's MA contest!

3dent · 04-27-2009 12:26 PM

[ QUOTE ]
For instance, wouldn't a single participant in (say) the battle for Minas Tirith have to stay just as focused during the day whether he's a footslogger or Gandalf? What differs is the story they tell afterwards about their own experiences, not their billing in the narative;

[/ QUOTE ]
That's the problem. If, suppose, I've never read/seen LotR, soldier's story which is entirely about how cool Gandalf is won't work. (Unless written by JRRT himself, maybe.) In fact even his own story might not work, if I'm not explained what Minas Tirith is and why should I care.

Which is pretty much what happens when someone tries to make good story arc of this type. (I tried it. 4 missions to just explain who the parties in the bigger conflit are and what they're up to. )

Leif_Roar · 04-27-2009 12:40 PM

[ QUOTE ]
so as long as he tells it well, and gives you enough to do, does it really matter if your actions are central or not?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, because what works in passive media like movies, books or verbal storytelling doesn't necessarily work in interactive media like roleplaying, text-adventures or video-games. You're not just telling the player a story: you're including him in it, and you absolutely have to give him a central part.

Why do you have to give the player the main part? Why can't you give him a supporting part? In short because people want to be the hero. They don't want to tag along after the hero or do the hero's laundry: that's not fun.

khaine_star · 04-27-2009 01:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
They don't want to tag along after the hero or do the hero's laundry: that's not fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you will find that if you get to do final fold and stack that can be quite good fun.

Bovine_Avenger · 04-27-2009 04:55 PM

Well I've some bad news for you Leif... you AREN'T the main hero. That's Statesman here. You are in effect already playing a minor role in Paragon City to any of the more famous heroes, indeed even perhaps to the contacts that send you out on missions, and who will always remain in one sense your superior... you are, at best, only the hero of your own personal story. What matters is that you are persuaded to believe that your part in these greater struggles matters too... you may save the world indeed, even though the game world never really changes, but the residents notice that you gave your all in the meantime.

So; you can have wave after wave of ambushes in the MA, to simulate part of a war against the Rikti for instance. Think Tabula Rasa in Paragon City. Are you the general of said war? Do you set the peace conditions? No, you don't... unless the author is being really footloose with the fluff. But that doesn't matter that here, now, in this particular warehouse you aren't fighting an important battle. And that CAN work, if written well. You don't NEED to be a huge world conquering hero; heroism doesn't just come on the top end of the scale... because if it did, MMOs just wouldn't work. You want single player games for that.

Alvan · 04-27-2009 05:17 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Well I've some bad news for you Leif... you AREN'T the main hero. That's Statesman here.

[/ QUOTE ]

What you seem to be mixing together are the concepts of someone being the "main hero" (or protagonist) in a story and someone being the "main hero" (or celebrity) in the game world.

To compare the situation with DC universe - while you could say that either Superman or Batman is the "main hero" of the universe, when you are reading a Starman story, the focus of the story is Starman. He's the "main hero" of the Starman stories. And even if Superman has a few appearances in the series, the focus of the Starman stories stays on Starman. He is the "main hero" of them.

In CoH this means that when you go about saving Statesman from Tyrant, the protagonist of the story is your character, who saves a secondary character (Statesman) from peril. Or when you are asked by Lord Recluse to defeat Statesman and his allies, it's not a story about Lord Recluse. It's a story about you defeating Statesman.

[b][color=blue]Coldest War /[color=red]/ Omega Patient[/b]
[url="http://www.the-cow.net/"][color=red]The CoW Network (Blog) /[/url][url="http://www.collegeofwar.com/"][color=blue]/ College of War[/url]

khaine_star · 04-27-2009 06:55 PM

I have to agree with Alvan. When I enter a mission with my hero. I am top dog there. I can't see any cape hero in red with a trademark faceplate. Just me and the badguys. Out in paragon he may be the top dog but in that mission it's all me.

To me mission arcs should involve the player as the main character. The story should include a start, middle and end like any story should. An excellent example of this is JD's arc. You are involved in stopping the bad guys not statesman, he even appears in a certain guise to give you the mission.

Bovine_Avenger · 04-27-2009 07:17 PM

No, I'm actually pointing out the difference, and how the description given in the original post is mixing the two up by insisting that the player character must always be central to the reactions of the NPCs around them, and the plot they are engaged within; in other words, it's always the "main hero (celebrity)" approach. The High Fantasy interpretation. But why should they be? It's a very narrow definition of what it means to to tell a heroic tale... I'll just quote from Scott of the Antarctic, once he realized he had not only come second to Amundson, but that he was going to die there in the snow, to illustrate another potential narrative approach;

"We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last [...] Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale, but surely, surely, a great rich country like ours will see that those who are dependent on us are properly provided for."

Compare that to the line "Your entire story arc should be centered around the him". But why should it be?

I suspect I know why it's widely accepted it should be; it's a game, and what people want from a game is Entertainment... And yes, I agree it's not precisely "Entertaining" to watch people die in the snow, or watch Batman being tortured by the Joker say. But what makes both Batman and Scott heroic in the wider sense is something more than acting as a surrogate for our own wish fulfilment; but if we follow the advice of the original post to the letter, we'll never, ever be able express what that IS through the mission editor. You can't write such stuff as stirs the heart unless you know what can send it into the depths too; Sometimes, you have to come second... but the suggested approach means we'll always, always be first in Paragon City. And I don't feel that's truly heroic; a true hero accepts that sometimes, the story tells him, that sometimes he's subordinate to something much, much greater than he is. And yes, that means even if it IS an obvious author-insertion that is the mechanism through which the larger issues express themselves.

Which really shouldn't be that hard to accept; you already accept it within the Paragon City universe in general. Tomorrow you'll all be part of an Anniversary event you will have absolutely a minimum of influence upon, but you'll have great fun sharing with others regardless; so I just don't see why people are so terrified of getting a bit of cheek from an NPC; why the NPC always has to be wrong if they are cheeky to you because damn it, feeling small in the Mission Architect is unbearable...?

Judgement_Dave · 04-28-2009 04:37 AM

[ QUOTE ]
To me mission arcs should involve the player as the main character. The story should include a start, middle and end like any story should. An excellent example of this is JD's arc. You are involved in stopping the bad guys not statesman, he even appears in a certain guise to give you the mission.

[/ QUOTE ]
An excellent point using a good example! Though for clarity I must point out that Khaine is referring to the arc of Ee-Ai-EE-Ai-Oh! (arc id:3662) and not one of my other arcs.

By my mohawk shall ye know me!
my toons
Funny: Ee-Ai-Ee-Ai-Oh! #3662 * The foul-mouthed Handyman! #1076 * City of Norms #132944
Serious: To Save A Single World (#83744) * Marketing Opportunity (#83747)

Col_Blitzkrieger · 04-28-2009 04:39 AM

It takes some seriously good writing to turn the player into a secondary character and actually do it well. Seriously good to a point that I haven't seen in the MA yet.

Leif_Roar · 04-28-2009 04:44 AM

[ QUOTE ]
An excellent point using a good example! Though for clarity I must point out that Khaine is referring to the arc of Ee-Ai-EE-Ai-Oh! (arc id:3662) and not one of my other arcs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just so that I'm sure I got it right. Khaine used your arc Ee-Ai-EE-Ai-Oh!, which has an arc id of 3662 (three thousand six hundred and sixty-two), as an example and not any of your other arcs, such as The foul-mouthed Handyman! with arc id 1076 (one thousand and seventy-six), To Save A Single World with arc id 83744 (eighty-three thousand, seven hundred and fourty-four) or the one with arc id 83747 (eighty-three thousand, seven hundred and fourty-seven) which is named Marketing Opportunity?

Leif_Roar · 04-28-2009 04:45 AM

[ QUOTE ]
It takes some seriously good writing to turn the player into a secondary character and actually do it well. Seriously good to a point that I haven't seen in the MA yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or in the canon missions. There are quite a few in-game missions which sin against this to some degree. Particularly on the villain side.

Moon_Angel · 04-28-2009 05:07 AM

Some good tips there. A nice guide.

Judgement_Dave · 04-28-2009 05:21 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
An excellent point using a good example! Though for clarity I must point out that Khaine is referring to the arc of Ee-Ai-EE-Ai-Oh! (arc id:3662) and not one of my other arcs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just so that I'm sure I got it right. Khaine used your arc Ee-Ai-EE-Ai-Oh!, which has an arc id of 3662 (three thousand six hundred and sixty-two), as an example and not any of your other arcs, such as The foul-mouthed Handyman! with arc id 1076 (one thousand and seventy-six), To Save A Single World with arc id 83744 (eighty-three thousand, seven hundred and fourty-four) or the one with arc id 83747 (eighty-three thousand, seven hundred and fourty-seven) which is named Marketing Opportunity?

[/ QUOTE ]
That looks right. Although you can test for yourself when the servers are live again by following these simple steps:

1. Go to your local Architect Entertainment building and access the mission computers.

2. Search for arc 3662 or Ee-Ai-Ee-Ai-Oh! or even Judgement Dave.

3. From the search results, select Ee-Ai-Ee-Ai-Oh! (arc id 3662) and press the PLAY button.

4. Play the arc and, assuming it is the correct one, enjoy a 4th wall breaking look at how the residents of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles deal with the PLing/RMTing/Farming problem (at this stage you can laugh, groan or just grin inanely - as the author does whilst playing this).

5. Now's the hard part - you have to rate it honestly and send comments/abuse/promises of undying love to the author whilst still either laughing, repeating a 'meh' sound or slowly rocking backwards and forwards, holding your kness and grinning inanely (again, the author prefers to do the last of these).

6. Just to be sure that Ee-Ai-Ee-Ai-Oh! (arc id 3662) was the correct arc referenced by Khaine, you can then try searching for and playing:

* The foul-mouthed Handyman! (arc id 1076) which is a 1-mission arc containing double entendre and workmen stereotypes. This mission, whilst raising a smile, doesn't contain Statesman at all - so probably isn't the arc refered to by Khaine.

* To Save A Single World (arc id 83744, author name: Electric Barbarella) is a 5-mission serious arc which, whilst being heroic, doesn't have Statesman in it anywhere IIRC. Of course, my memory may be wrong, so it could be a good idea to play this arc just to check that it wasn't the one that Khaine referenced.

* Marketing Opportunity (arc id 83747, author name: Electric Barbarella) is a 4-mission serious arc of a villainous persuasion that certainly doesn't contain Statesman. But given that it is linked to the arc To Save A Single World (arc id 83744) and you've come this far you may as well play it. In for a penny and all that!

These steps ought to convince you that Khaine was talking about Ee-Ai-Ee-Ai-Oh! (arc id 3662). But, as I say, don't take my word for it when it's so easy to go and check for yourselves!

By my mohawk shall ye know me!
my toons
Funny: Ee-Ai-Ee-Ai-Oh! #3662 * The foul-mouthed Handyman! #1076 * City of Norms #132944
Serious: To Save A Single World (#83744) * Marketing Opportunity (#83747)

khaine_star · 04-28-2009 05:23 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
To me mission arcs should involve the player as the main character. The story should include a start, middle and end like any story should. An excellent example of this is JD's arc. You are involved in stopping the bad guys not statesman, he even appears in a certain guise to give you the mission.

[/ QUOTE ]
An excellent point using a good example! Though for clarity I must point out that Khaine is referring to the arc of Ee-Ai-EE-Ai-Oh! (arc id:3662) and not one of my other arcs.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's the one. I couldn't remember the title when I wrote that response and intended to go back and edit it in.