What's Sucked the Life from this Thread?

If you're right, Airhead, with a join date in June 2004 and 1,130 posts, "Consequences of War" is a shoo in for the next round of Dev Choices? Sweet!

lol champions

I haven't had time to be nearly as involved as most of you, and doing anything on test or in beta - whether closed or open - simply isn't an option for me. So, basically, what you're telling us Lazarus is that, by all appearances, getting DC has less to do with quality than having the time and inclination to play the "game?" People that have real lives that don't leave 23 hours a day free to play on test and suck up to devs need not apply? At fifty years old, maybe I shouldn't be so naive as to think they'd actually care about finding those most worthy over those most convenient.

If what you say is accurate, it's almost a shame Champions holds no appeal for me. Of course DCO is coming, isn't it?

Pretty much. I probably would have had an arc DC'ed as well if I hadn't been too busy to come back for Closed Beta. Passing courses on Distillation, Chemical Reactors, Fluid Mechanics, and Physical Chemistry was a much bigger priority.

If it was just a matter of visibility, then you'd think that at least one of the Reviewers would have been offered Dev Choice by now. (DeviousMe aka AcidZero doesn't count as he already had a DC from closed beta long before he did his handful of reviews)

What I find wierd is that there aren't more DC arcs appearing. I've got a proper job, and I've played enough great arcs to have been able to give a DC once a month, easy. I'd have thought the DC awards would be coming at a rate of at least a few every month. How many Devs have the privilige of awarding it?

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."

Especially considering the much higher number of devs on staff now, you'd think SOMEONE was still playing the game for fun, and playing AE missions.

My guess was that the chance of getting a DC was improved by how close to canon you wrote, and especially improved if you tried to explain the backstory of AE.
In other words, there's a bit of self-serving promotion going on, not necessarily a reward for creativity.

One thing that might be a factor, which I noticed when I was poking at this setting and happened to check the 'help' -
Only arcs set to "Final" are eligible/considered for DC.

I still doubt that there's any serious effort to uncover good arcs. Besides the rearguard action to combat farming, the devs have switched gears to working on the Rogue expansion. So there will be xp and ticket nerfs coming in I16, which will further shrink the part of the playerbase that was so excited when AE was shiny and new.

For myself and others, AE refreshed the game for awhile. Now it's become tiresome again. Some players will see I16 as more than just cosmetic. Fairly or unfairly, I bailed on the idea when I found out granite armor can't be colored. A tier 9 signature power for that set...

What's funny is how many recognizable names we're seeing in CO.
Also funny is that I can shrink baddies w/ a reducing ray and "stomp" on 'em. And even though it was a bug, a growth formula temp turned me into the size of a house. Or flying while carrying a truck above my head, then flinging it at a baddie...
Part of it is the novelty, but the sense of fun is there and, lately, not here.

My recollection is that it appeared in the text produced by the [?] box above the dropdown to set the level of finality (from WiP to Final).

I posted this over in the I16 Pruning Thread, should prolly go over here.

I tweaked my arc in response to the "review" I recieved, not that any of it mattered. The kick is I played a bunch of stuff listed for consideration but since then...meh.

Or you could have my experience:

The great unwashed masses (i.e. regular players) were playing my arc, getting 5 star rating average, maybe one or two plays a week. Very cool.

Then I made the mistake thinking the Unwashed Masses were right and asked for it to be "Reviewed" by People Smarter Than the Room* (*for trademark). See it works this way, you have to play thier arc(s) first, often with required positive feedback, read 4-5 stars, and then wait breathlessly while you wait for your review.

Well I got a 2 star review from a Person Smarter Than the Room*, dropping my average to 4 stars resulting in Zero, Zip, Nada, plays since said review. I made the changes that Smarter Than the Room* recommended (AE mechanics were confusing, like spawning certian ambushes) No advice about improving the mechanics or the story flow just things like No AV Final Battle (cuz every story arc Regular content is loaded with EB/AVs every mission), don't like the Boss names (they were themed but not to he/her liking apparently) and weak comments like that.

So...no more effort on my part, to those 15 or so that gave me 4-5 stars, thanks. Still a non-farm quality, level 20-29 arc, soloable for any AT just floating in the "4 star arc limbo/hell" never to be played again cuz it's not on the first 250 pages...BUT Doofus' Boss Farm x900 is there...enjoy. AE meh.

To all those quality authors, thanks for your efforts. I play em and enjoy em. I may comment on difficulty or mechanics but will never "poor" feedback you on an honest effort to write a good story. "Poor" effort gets "poor" reviews.

Oh, I'll still put effort into my arcs when I get good suggestions. I haven't *ever* made wholesale changes based on everything a reviewer has said, but I've stayed open-minded and, as a result, my arcs are far better for it. I got a two star from the first person that reviewed Part 1, and though I think it was over-critical, looking back I probably could have benefitted from trying to be objective about his critique. Unfortunately, his demeanor was so condescending I flushed everything he said.

The second critique, by Laser Jesus, was only a three, and it wasn't pretty, but it was written in such a way that I was able to remain open-minded about what he said - resulting in changes that contributed to the arc's receiving 4s and 5s from every reviewer since. I have yet to receive a formal critique that didn't result in some change that made my arcs better.

I just keep on remembering what an affair of the heart my arcs have been, and refuse to let poor decisions by the powers-that-be, or the possibility of negative feedback I don't agree with spoil that. The people that count are the ones that "get it." Don't let the rest cause you to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Something interesting I've noticed at a glance is that review threads tend to get posts and attention but the actual author threads are often ignored, or, at least comparatively. So if a reviewer is busy with real life, it seems like that alone will slow this forum down.