MA Super Team Starting and we want you!
By
ArrowRose,
Posted on: 2009-10-06 09:07 in Mission Architect
Quote:
I'll try to be on. I'm not sure if I will be. It depends on if I can slap myself awake that early. I'll definately be doing my usual 8pm on Saturday though.
|
Originally Posted by Lithrei
I'll be there on Tuesday at the normal time of 6pm EST.
I don't have a problem with leading the team if needs be, so everyone make sure to show up! *Grin* |
Updated Schedule:
Tuesday 6:00pm EST - Open Teaming, still not sure if I will be there.
Saturday Noon EST - Open Teaming.
Saturday 8:00pm EST - Open Teaming lead by OzzieArcane.
Sunday Noon EST - Open Teaming.
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
Heya folks, a few of us showed up tonight, accompanied by a few non SuperTeam members. We ran through two arcs, and these are my quick thoughts on them.
I Will Dance On Your Grave
by: @dugromthearth
In this three mission arc you are in the role of a Paragon City Hero who is approched by a Mambo (a voodoo lady) to help face down a rising threat. A bocor (Voodoo Man) is working with the skulls to tap into dark power. This arc has a very defined "feel" to it, and running through it doesnt take too much time. I'd recommend it, although i do believe the story needs a little bit of galvanizing.
The contact along with all of the custom characters are really well designed. This combined with the map choices maintain a good atmosphere throughout the arc.
The arc uses a couple of unwieldy maps, which could be troublesome depending on the makeup of the team, i think this can be fixed with the addition of meaningful clues to help bolster the story.
Mainly i had believability issues with the extent of the Skulls' involvement in the situation.
After that we ran through one of the teamate's arcs.
An Arachnos Slumber Party
Arachnos recruits have decided to throw a slumber party and you're invited! They need to make sure they have enough "chips, dip, ammunition and party music" to allow for an enjoyable evening.
I had fun playing through this arc and it was pretty funny as well.
- A few times i had trouble wrapping my mind around the entire concept, even though that's part of the humor.
For being a funny-silly arc the story fits together really well, and the events have a sense of continuity which is nice.
The custom mobs look great and fit in well, although i might tone down the colors on the [SPOILER] minions on the last map. I absolutely loved the boss design of the [SPOILER] custom group.
This is the second arc i've tried by Zamuel, and i have to say he doesn't miss a thing in his arcs. Incredible attention to detail and a very complete arc.
Although i would have wanted a few more laughs, and my sensitivies about gender were just slightly alerted (all the baddies are female, and i felt some of them acted a little too stereotypical)
Thanks so much everyone who made it to the team tonight!
by: @dugromthearth
In this three mission arc you are in the role of a Paragon City Hero who is approched by a Mambo (a voodoo lady) to help face down a rising threat. A bocor (Voodoo Man) is working with the skulls to tap into dark power. This arc has a very defined "feel" to it, and running through it doesnt take too much time. I'd recommend it, although i do believe the story needs a little bit of galvanizing.
The contact along with all of the custom characters are really well designed. This combined with the map choices maintain a good atmosphere throughout the arc.
The arc uses a couple of unwieldy maps, which could be troublesome depending on the makeup of the team, i think this can be fixed with the addition of meaningful clues to help bolster the story.
Mainly i had believability issues with the extent of the Skulls' involvement in the situation.
All in all it was a
*****
Four star arc to me.
*****
Four star arc to me.
After that we ran through one of the teamate's arcs.
An Arachnos Slumber Party
by: @Zamuel
Arachnos recruits have decided to throw a slumber party and you're invited! They need to make sure they have enough "chips, dip, ammunition and party music" to allow for an enjoyable evening.
I had fun playing through this arc and it was pretty funny as well.
- A few times i had trouble wrapping my mind around the entire concept, even though that's part of the humor.
For being a funny-silly arc the story fits together really well, and the events have a sense of continuity which is nice.
The custom mobs look great and fit in well, although i might tone down the colors on the [SPOILER] minions on the last map. I absolutely loved the boss design of the [SPOILER] custom group.
This is the second arc i've tried by Zamuel, and i have to say he doesn't miss a thing in his arcs. Incredible attention to detail and a very complete arc.
Although i would have wanted a few more laughs, and my sensitivies about gender were just slightly alerted (all the baddies are female, and i felt some of them acted a little too stereotypical)
I gave this arc a
*****
five star rating
, because it was fun, entertaining, and just very well executed. Despite it feeling overall like a 4, the amount of effort and completeness of the arc showed, pushing it just over the line to be awarded a 5. This a silly arc that i feel was taken very seriously when it was being made. Great work.*****
five star rating
Thanks so much everyone who made it to the team tonight!
I ran into Sisyphus (spelling?) online today and we ran through his newest arc, The Otherworldly Journey, and I gave some feedback (I hope it was helpful). I don't recall the number. Good stuff! Recommended, though he did say he's still tweaking a few of the elements.
If we get the same team members for Ozzie's team this Saturday that we had last Saturday, I'm hoping we can run ZAGMUK Act Two which is level range 16-20. Any takers on that?
I plan to be there this saturday for Ozzie's team, and am willing to go through Zagmuk Act II. Hope everyone from last week can make it again : )
and the secret's out, My character's name is spelled wrong. hehehe...
Nobody was supposed to know ^_^;;
Quote:
I've got no problem with it. I may also be staying on later then usual. Usually on Saturdays I hang out with RL friends after 11pm, but this Saturday I don't have any plans at all.
|
Originally Posted by Sumericon
If we get the same team members for Ozzie's team this Saturday that we had last Saturday, I'm hoping we can run ZAGMUK Act Two which is level range 16-20. Any takers on that?
|
Today we ran:
X8: Monster Mayhem by @Stygian Arc ID: 312167
Russian Roulette by @Cassie Arc ID: 109404
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
Another fun day with the MA crew! We had a good turnout and a nice mix of Heroes & Villains. Only a couple team wipes and 1 farm map we had to drop, but all-in-all a good time, as usual!
First up was X8: Monster Mayhem by @Stygian Arc ID: 312167
This was an interesting mish-mash of Hamlet and the classic Universal Studios Monsters (Frankenstein, Werewolf, etc.) The costumes were great, as were the bios, but the Hamlet references & storytelling method made the whole thing feel out of sync.
Maybe if I was more of a fan of Hamlet, and could recall the story and quotes from memory, I would have enjoyed the arc more. But I read Hamlet waaaay back in high school and promptly forgot it after the test.
Also I never understood the connection between Universal's Monsters and Hamlet. It's just such a random mix, I didn't get it. I guess he was going for the "play within a play" plot device but it really just added another layer of complexity that made the whole story tougher to follow.
The arc also didn't utilize clues or NPC dialogue to reveal the story. Pretty much everything you get is from the wall-o-text the contact gives you. This makes it hard to keep track of what's happened and why you're doing each mission. Instead of revealing or experiencing the story, it's dumped on you in huge chunks that you forget as you wade thru mobs and mobs of classic monsters.
In the end, you could tell the author put a lot of effort into the arc and I bet if I was up on my Shakespeare I'd have been impressed with his knowledge of Hamlet and re-telling. But I'm not, so I wasn't.
Would a rose by any other name smell so sweet? Not quite, but it didn't stink. 3.5 out of 5 stars (rounded up to 4 for effort)
Next up was a game of Russian Roulette where we plugged in "Romance" - "Save the world" - "Custom Characters" and hit Random.
What we got was Rose of the Lawn Ninja ID# 318268
We were a bit excited by the name as it sounded very creative...unfortunately after reading the mission text, which had more typos than you could fit in one paragraph, we quickly realized the title was a typo, too. It should have been "Rise" of the lawn ninja.
And apparently Lawn Ninjas are massive groups of minions (no Lts or Bosses), without bios, on an outdoor farming map, spouting off more typos.
Stupid farms are stupid so we dropped this one like a bad habit.
Then someone got the bright idea of doing a new twist to Roulette: we'd search for arcs containing the NAME "Roulette!"
Thus, we loaded up Russian Roulette by @Cassie Arc ID: 109404
This arc was a fun find! Well formatted text, good dialogue (that was in character,) an interesting custom enemy (complete with bios,) ...oh! and we got to beat up Ruskies!! How cool is that!
The story was probably more complicated than it needed to be and I had some issues with how it claimed to fit in CoH canon, but it was still a solid arc and it progressed logically from mission to mission. My favorite detail was the ID clue found in mission 4! A very creative and effective use of the name, class, & level strings in MA to give the player a personal stake in the outcome of the arc.
In the end I gave it a solid 4. If it kept it's focus more on the Ruskie plot and didn't jump around as much it would have easily been a 5.
Oh, and WARNING: this arc is not for the solo-inclined. The enemy group is Mastermind heavy and can quickly become a challenge for even a full group if they're not paying attention. That was the other reason it got kicked down to a 4 in my book.
So, 2 out of 3? Not a bad day at AE if you ask me! Hope to see more of ya next week!
Craft your inventions in AE!!
Play "Crafter's Cafe" - Arc #487283. A 1 mission, NON-COMBAT AE arc with workable invention tables!
Very nice turn out today! We ran with a full team for most of the session.
We played:
The Book of Dark Secrets by @Mr. Astounding Arc ID: 155884
Return of the Crimson Bat by @Mighty Nimbus Arc ID: 102899
New Jack City by @SWATGUY Arc ID: 337294 (We quit this since we felt it was a farm)
Who the hell is Captain Powerful? by @Mauve Arrow Arc ID: 345586
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
This Weeks Schedule:
Tuesday 6:00pm EST - In honor of Thanksgiving we will run: Arc #347683, "The Wentworth's Thanksgiving Day Parade"
Saturday Noon EST - Open Teaming
Sunday Noon EST - Open Teaming
OzzieArcane, you planning on the Saturday night teaming this week?
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
Yeah and though my group has generally been doing arcs from team members. I'm gonna make sure to look up a few 20+ arcs to have on standby.
Tonight we went with a Thanksgiving theme and ran:
The Wentworth's Thanksgiving Day Parade by @Djinniman Arc ID: 347683
Xhanksgiving at Grandma's by @Electra Creed Arc ID: 347649
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
A side benefit of catching this season's flu was getting to ditch work for a day and actually join up with the MA Super Team on a Tuesday 
First up was:
The Wentworth's Thanksgiving Day Parade by @Djinniman Arc ID: 347683
The concept, alone, was genius and from the opening mission dialogue we all knew we were in for a fun arc!
The author does a fantastic job of creating a setting that fits perfectly into Paragon City and brings it alive with little details that long-time players can really appreciate. The humor is firmly tongue-in-cheek, and the story progresses at a good pace with good logic.
The heavy use of existing enemy groups helps give the arc a credible feel of being in continuity, the important characters are given proper bios and the recoloring/bio for the band members is a pure stroke of genius!
The only drawbacks were objective overload and the conclusion.
The objectives all made sense and had good payoffs, but when you zone into the mission and the objective bar is bleeding over your map it's a bit intimidating.
As for the conclusion, the final boss' dialogue leads the player to believe that someone else has orchestrated the entire plot, but it's left dangling whether it was a larger plan or not. This was a huge missed opportunity to put a nice twist on the whole story and wrap it up with a big finale. And without the twist, the plot seems kind of silly for the mastermind involved.
4.5 Stars rounded up to 5. Tack on 1 more mission filled with Hamidon Mitos colored as float balloons and you've got a solid 5!!
You can't just have 1 serving for Thanksgiving, so we filled up our plate with:
Xhanksgiving at Grandma's by @Electra Creed Arc ID: 347649
This was just a plain, silly arc with custom Thanksgiving themed groups and a few existing mobs that fit the theme. It wasn't a very deep plot with layers of details, but it was fun in the 'summer popcorn flick' sense.
If you like to spend your Thanksgiving smashing pumpkins and beating the stuffing out of turkeys, this arc would be a good filler between pie and football game.
Note to the author: there is a feature in MA that lets you set bosses so they don't spawn in regular mobs. When you're on the custom enemy group list in the MA, right click the name of the enemy you don't want to spawn and set it so they don't spawn in normal groups (I don't recall the exact wording off hand.) This would be a welcome fix for your Turkeys.
Also, lots of potential for added humor if you fill out the bios of your custom groups.
3.25 Stars with a dollop of whipped cream to make it 4.
These holiday themed arcs are very inspiring and I look forward to seeing what people come up with for Xmas and New Year's!
Craft your inventions in AE!!
Play "Crafter's Cafe" - Arc #487283. A 1 mission, NON-COMBAT AE arc with workable invention tables!
The MA Super Team was fully loaded and ran the following three hour monster:
The Gates of Darkness Part One by @Lady Blood Rose Arc ID: 152689
It was fun as usual.
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
Quote:
And by "fun" WN means the group...NOT the arc.|
Originally Posted by Wrong_Number
The MA Super Team was fully loaded and ran the following three hour monster:
The Gates of Darkness Part One by @Lady Blood Rose Arc ID: 152689 It was fun as usual. WN |
There's not enough room to point out everything that wasn't just bad, but "awful" with that arc. Here are just a few of the offenses encountered on this 3-hour tour of fail:
- Defeat alls in Oranbega large maps (yes, plural)
Chained EBs & AV (with ambushes)
Unannounced timed mission
Uninspired darkity-dark-blah-blah dialogue
Cliche concept
and the most unoriginal custom enemy names you will ever see!
The only thing that made it halfway bearable was the MST3K commentary by the team. I'm pretty sure November Man earned the Crow badge by mission 3!
Craft your inventions in AE!!
Play "Crafter's Cafe" - Arc #487283. A 1 mission, NON-COMBAT AE arc with workable invention tables!
Maybe, but then I was demoted to September Man by mission 5 for finding the arc in the first place. 
Winner of Players' Choice Best Villainous Arc 2010: Fear and Loathing on Striga; ID #350522
Full team, four hours of MA arcs today. The arcs we run were as follows:
Mighty - Man's Task Force by @M I G H T Y Arc ID: 315183
The Rikti Accession by @Mekkanos Arc ID: 278757
Miss Paragon City Contest by @Muldrakna Arc ID: 332748
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
I don't think I'll be running my Saturday evening team this week due to having other plans. Just letting you all know in advance in case someone else wants to lead this week.
This Weeks Schedule:
Tuesday 6:00pm EST - High Roller (Highest roll of the dice gets to choice an arc for us to play)
Saturday Noon EST - Open Teaming
Sunday Noon EST - Open Teaming
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
Curious if you're still taking members or not. Don't have a character on Triumph, but sounded like fun.
Quote:
The only requirement for joining is to survive the trip from the Vanguard Base to the AE building in RWZ, which is where the team meets up. SSK smoothes out the level ranges.
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Originally Posted by BadJuJu
Curious if you're still taking members or not. Don't have a character on Triumph, but sounded like fun.
|
Quote:
Cool, if that's the case I will try to make it out there. Don't want to take a spot from anyone that's already been playing, but if you have less than 8 come, I'll join up. Thanks.
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Originally Posted by Sumericon
The only requirement for joining is to survive the trip from the Vanguard Base to the AE building in RWZ, which is where the team meets up. SSK smoothes out the level ranges.
|
Not a big deal, if we have more than 8 show up we simply split into multiple teams
Craft your inventions in AE!!
Play "Crafter's Cafe" - Arc #487283. A 1 mission, NON-COMBAT AE arc with workable invention tables!
I'll be there on Tuesday at the normal time of 6pm EST.
I don't have a problem with leading the team if needs be, so everyone make sure to show up! *Grin*