The Golden Age Secret of the Paragon Society (ARC 344596)

Wrong_Number · 11-11-2010 07:17 AM

Today is the one year anniversary of The Golden Age Secret of the Paragon Society.

Back when I was a kid in the 1960's and 70's there was not the amount of reprints there are today. The few that were around were mostly golden age comics and I loved anytime I could get my hands on them. When I wrote this arc my intention was to recreate the classic feeling and style of a golden age comic book story. I feel that I succeeded far beyond my expectations and it seems that the players agree.

In the year since it was published The Golden Age secret of the Paragon Society has received 258 plays while still maintaining it's 5 star rating. This makes it the most successful arc published during that time which amazes me to no end. It also has gotten twelve recommendations for dev's choice spread across all three of the "Recommendation for Dev's Choice" threads,

I want to thank every person who has played this arc and especially those of you that have recommended it to others. It really makes me happy to see my work so enjoyed.

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

Wrong_Number · 12-07-2010 06:05 AM

I've been meaning to do this for sometime since on occasion I get a comment asking about a word or phrase the Firecracker Kid uses during the arc.

A Guide to the Firecracker Kids Jargon

Dollars to doughnuts A certainty. Betting dollars (money) vs. the much lesser valued doughnuts because you are certain of an outcome.

Double Time To move or cause to move at double time: Very commonly used in the military.

Fritz Slang term for German soldiers commonly used in WW2.

Half-cocked To speak or act prematurely.

Hoof it To travel by walking.

Loose lips sink ships! A WW2 slogan that that meant to remind people to be careful what they said because you never knew when an enemy spy could be listening.

Nancy - If someone is being pathetic you would call them a nancy or a nancy boy. It is the opposite of being hard. For example in cold weather a nancy boy would dress up in a coat, hat, gloves and scarf and a hard guy would wear a t-shirt.

"Son of a Bee Whacker!" This expression comes from my uncle who I loosely based the Firecracker Kid on. It was his way of not cursing around kids. Bee whacker replaces b***h. Im not sure if this was his invention or if it comes from somewhere else.

On the QT QT is short for quiet, to keep a secret.

Hopefully that clears up some of the questions.

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

Icy_Spark · 12-07-2010 11:09 AM

Fire's jargon was not a mystery to me at all, but it was a fun little read anyways.

IMHO the bigger mystery is why some dev has not yet Dev's Choiced this arc. Hello....McFly....anybody home?

GlaziusF · 03-17-2011 09:20 PM

Review done as part of the CoHMR Aggregator project.

@GlaziusF

Running this on a mid-40s ice/axe tanker, +0/x2 with bosses on.

---

Pff. Okay, so my contact doesnt have any patience for these modern-day heroes who fly to stop bank jobs instead of going uphill in the snow both ways.

Modern courtesy, Gramps. I dont know how they did it back in your day but these days us heroes like to know what you know about the opposition before we take the mission on. Youre not being charged by the word anymore.

But anyway, off to reclaim some ancient lost knowledge or something. Oh hey. The actual bunker map! Good opener.

Anyway, the 5th Column are here trying to wreck things. Including the lockbox. Which theyve already done.

---

Oh boy, microfilm! Just like one of them double-naught spies! Anyway, were off looking for leads in a 5th base. Apparently my contacts got a descendant in this generation of heroes, and I should keep things close to my chest.

Oh. Not descendent. Godson. Thats actually kind of nice.

Anyway, Shermans clue should probably come before the one from the boss he chains into (and this map is setup kinda free-roaming, you may want to look into a more linear one) but we have the data. ...well, one copy of it, anyway. Maybe.

---

Ah. Looks like the 5th have found an old lab of theirs in that information, and theyre restarting some terrible experiment that the old Paragon Society put to rest.

Ah. Cloning. Looks like Master D is coming back!

(Also wow, theres a big hitbox on them cloning tubes. I popped Reveal next to one, and whoa.)

An EB is here, boasting about taking Sherman down. While I keep the energy absorption running off his minions he cant really dent me.

Get some more evidence from the end room... including a grim memento of Sherman. Ouch.

---

Oh. Sherman was actually a prototype Aryan superman. ...I dont remember him being blonde, though. Maybe I just lost his hair in all the invuln sparkles.

Anyhow, my contact apparently tried to break this to him gently, but he decided to forcefully repudiate his ancestry and got his face broken for it. I dont feel too bad about not being let in on it, since its a family affair.

Shermans in 5th column duds and got himself a different tank name, and asks to be led back to some kind of mind machine. You can actually do that nowadays.

Though I suppose its just as well, as he gets himself stuck in a plasma emitter halfway up the lab. He does work free after a long while.

Ah. The boss is an actual Aryan with lightning powers, who gets Sherman to obey his programming. I let him pound on the ice plating for a while while I fish out the deactivator.

Looking over, it looks like the boss sent some info back to... the Wolves Den? Sounds like Striga, but thats a Council stronghold.

---

Anyway, weve found the base, and its time to go shut down the cloning facility. Looks like theyve already started up production.

Unfortunately, the new master race isnt much match for their prototype, and a giant Arachnoid with a plasma axe.

The end boss is a credible clone of Sherman with about an order of magnitude less muscle mass and a serviceable Iron Cross-looking uniform. I did a double take when I caught a glimpse of the chest logo, have to admit. Looking through the admittedly meager selection, theres Arachnos and Council but no 5th, though you might be able to get a good fake going with some of the skull options if you wanted to take a run at it. Not a major priority, of course.

He pulls in an ambush but theyre more fodder for the blue bar and the ice plates. (good thing, too, I was running low) And then he drops. As my contact says: another reminder that the people who change the world are made, not born.

---

Storyline - ****. About my only significant quibble with this story is how the Firecracker Kid fobs off responsibility for Shermans actions on me when hes compromised the kid himself. Not just because its misplaced but because it sets up my contact as a deliberate liar rather than an absentminded and/or cantankerous old man.

I can understand his reasons and that mutes the blow a little bit, but its problematic when your only reliable source of information becomes unreliable. Its perfectly in keeping with the character to fob off blame reflexively, but if he is having second thoughts maybe his lack of rancor could be a little foreshadowing.

Design - ****. Its hard to get a 5th Column cave map that actually has a clear progression from front through middle to rear. Especially one without the DOOM SPA. I wouldnt suggest being meticulous in the map choice so much? Just try not to use chained objectives on a 5th/Council cave map unless the plot strictly demands it.

Speaking of chained objectives, considering how the Panzer mission shakes out a point-to-point escort probably wont be feasible, even though his rescue line leads me to expect one. Im not sure if thats anything that needs to be or could be handled necessarily. Maybe theres a lead to objective to a machine that Blitzkriegs forces have removed the important components from?

The new group does kind of tend to all run together, visually, but there arent any particularly notable threats (debuffers/controllers) so its not such a bad thing. I mean, they are all clones, after all.

Speaking of clones, Im still wondering why Sherman isnt a blue-eyed blondie. I guess this fits his background as an early prototype - he certainly doesnt have any reason to be using hair dye or contacts.

Gameplay - *****. Nothing too unreasonable here. Mostly stock mobs and some interesting custom fights. One custom EB with help. There are chains but they generally dont require a lot of backtracking aside from the first 5th Column map.

Detail - ****. Something I havent seen before is that every missions clues are color-coded. It certainly helps segregate them. You can also drag-and-drop the mission objectives around to change the order clues show up in -- I find it helpful to structure the clues in the order theyre supposed to be encountered.

One thing I didnt like, though, is that for all the effort thats done to give the contact a distinct voice and personality the elite boss warnings still show up in jarring red at the end of the briefing. Kind of ruins the feel you had going. Id keep the warning color but work out a way to have the contact give the warning. Maybe rant about how the heroes these days are all running around looking for teams when back in the day you could fight off Nazis with one hero and one kid with a dream.

Overall - *****. While I may have some bones to pick with individual aspects of this arc, as a whole the impressions quite favorable. Its the sort of cross-generational plot all these Johnny-come-lately villain groups cant sell very well at all, and the secret is more more elaborate and involving than the simple MacGuffin I expected going in.

Wrong_Number · 03-18-2011 06:05 AM

Thanks for the detailed review! You bring up a few points for me to think about should I revise the arc.

I'm not thrilled with the last map either and it is a replacement map after the original no longer worked after an MA update. There are very limited choices that allow the number of things I need in that mission and unfortunately none of them are very linear.

As for Sherman not being blond, you are not the first to mention it. The blond hair/blue eyed thing is more of a Hollywood trope from what I can tell. While blond/eye was very desirable, it was not the only "acceptable" appearance. Truth be told though blond just looked silly on Sherman.

Again, thanks for the review.

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

GlaziusF · 03-18-2011 05:07 PM

Actually, the last map worked out pretty well. I think all its objectives were there from the start? Or at least Sherman showed up in the first room. I'm talking more about the second one, which puts you and the "end room" on opposite sides of a closed loop, pretty much.

Wrong_Number · 04-27-2011 07:22 AM

This arc is no longer playable due to the use of the word "Paragon" and my custom group of WW2 "5th Column" clones. Blitzkrieg is also "invalid"

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

Wrong_Number · 05-24-2011 04:15 PM

The arc is once again playable. I had to:

- Change 5th Column to Firth Column

- Change Blitzkrieg to Blitz-krieg

I plan on reversing these changes once everything is fixed on the Devs end.

NOTE - Please let me know if you find anything I missed. Thanks!

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

Wrong_Number · 06-11-2011 05:10 AM

Been a long time since an update so here is a little more of what people are saying:

@Trev-MUN wrote: I learned about this arc from a trailer done by Bubbawheat. One of the comments got me interested in how they were taken by surprise that this arc explores what it means to be an American. I have to say, I definitely agree! This was excellently written and well worth the time I spent playing it.

@Quake- wrote: Second time through still loving it!

@IneffableBob wrote: Nice arc! I like that the missions were mostly on small maps and fairly quick to complete. Good story and fun to play!

@Cloud Leopardes wrote: Nicely done!

@Lethal Guardian wrote: (played as part of the Player's Choice contest) - Everybody's got to have a 'your best work' arc, and IMHO this one is yours. It was great fun to play it again, and reminded me of why it is such high quality, and deserving of nomination. It's hard to explain, but everything 'clicks' in just the right way for this one. Very well done (again)!

@EvilTwinToo wrote: For the record, I actually do detest totalitarians of all brands. They are a waste of organic material. Thx for the mish, it was a fun romp.

@Fasttrack1 wrote: I thorougly enjoyed the humor and the atmosphere you gave the story (WW2 era). Gave it 5 stars, especially since I love reading on WW2 history. Fantastic creation!

@Dalghryn wrote: Well-written and researched.

@Fiery Redeemer wrote: Excellent arc. Doesn't hurt that it's about beating up 5th Column. Thank you.

@Dr Mechano wrote: loved it, very golden age and would like to see more on the Paragon Society

@dogut wrote: Great story idea and great execution! I thought Sherman was going to betray me. Makes me want to adventure with the PS members of WW2! Maybe a sequel?

@AlwaysAPrice wrote: Great classic Nazi-punching adventure, I like the approach of a comical contact that lures you into a serious story. Color-coding the clues by mission was a nice touch that helped me keep up with the story as it unfolded, I might lift that for my own arcs.

@Dark Phoenix wrote: Fun story. Very polished.

@Tubbius wrote: REALLY well done and well researched. Excellent arc.

@TheDeepBlue wrote: Neato

@Arctic Princess wrote: This was a great arc - I played it after playing your Aeon Challenge II arc! A lot of fun, quite difficult even on 0/1 setting with the EB and then Panzer but ultimately rewarding! 5 stars.

@K'aji wrote: I loved the custom Columnists. the 'Kid was a nice dynamic contact.. Nice arc,worthy of a 5!

@Teravoltt wrote: I liked this. Good job.

@CrusaderKal wrote: Nice Story

@Aehaed wrote: Great fun! Nice classic bit of adventurin'.

@PTD : Enjoyable arc!

@Aracade wrote: Another very good story. Nice progresion.. Over all solid arc.

@Sevyyn wrote: Good arc with good writing. Really enjoyed it.

@KemLi wrote: loved the story, loved the dialogue and the classic nature of the characters

@FredrikSvanberg wrote: The whole arc has a fine balance of humor and serious business.

@DarklordDKL wrote: Awesome! Your best yet, IMO. Firecracker has some classic material!

@BackFire wrote: Nazi-smashing fun! Great attention to detail, fun dialogue, and a solid story. There was a lot more humor than I expected, but it didn't detract from the arc. Esp. liked the fight dialogue for Sherman and his turn to the dark side. Great touch! BTW- was able to solo the EB with a lvl 27 MA/WP scrapper

@Meatpiston wrote: Nice story and great dialog!

@Tragedy Redtear wrote: great depiction of the 5th column, the customs were well made and a lot of details about the faction came through indirectly in while playing. I don't speak German but i know enough to see that you knew what you were doing when writing the names and dialogue.. Nice job!

@Lethal Guardian wrote: (as Pro Payne) Wonderful arc! The contact and mission briefings were very well done. The mission design and the story were top notch -- the arc was a blast to play, and I very much enjoyed it! Very, very good job!

@Gypsy Rose wrote: Loved this arc, especially the contact!

@Defensive Option wrote: Perfect classic red/white and bliue story thanks

@Kow wrote: Really awesome!! I enjoyed every single mission, and the dialogue for the contact is hilarious. "I can barely work my Jitterbug..." Classic stuff dude, keep up the good work

@Mad Machinest wrote: Well written and a lot of fun to play.

@Grave Touch wrote: I liked it very much; well written, good plot line; kinda creepy and fufilling on how well you mimiced the Nazis on that last mission, really felt good killing them; am I an Inglorious ******* now?

@Ultra Lad wrote: Very fun, I played it with a toon named Agent Valor...a perfect fit

@Hurricane Hank wrote: Nice arc, I always enjoy the old school stuff

@LaceySkye wrote: Hey! Just played this one with my lvl 50 Claws/Super-Reflexes Scrapper. This was an excellent story that had me laughing from the get-go. It held my interest the whole way through and really delievered in the "event" department. Sherman/Panzer turning on us in mission 4 was a great touch! I loved your custom baddies in the last mission and would love to see more of them. It IS fun beating up Nazi's. >.> lol! 5 stars and another fantastic job!

@Zamuel wrote: Very well done. Nice to see the 5th Column in a role where you can actually regard them as a threat.

@BigJoules wrote: Easily the most enjoyable MA story I've run thus far. Thanks for putting in he work!

@Adept wrote: well written and enjoyable to play through

@Rude Dog wrote: Very nice!

@Simian Stalker wrote: Really enjoyed this arc! Great story, flow, and characters!

@Hydrophidian wrote: Had a great time! I wasn't the leader, but I was still able to follow what was going on. Loved the custom group at the end. Thanks for making a wonderful arc we could play!

@Mr Wallace wrote: greart story very JSA loved it will run again with my SG thx

@PTD wrote: Enjoyable arc!

@KemLi wrote: loved the story, loved the dialogue and the classic nature of the characters

@Sevyyn wrote: Good arc with good writing. Really enjoyed it.

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

Wrong_Number · 07-17-2011 03:54 PM

Check out the awesome video promo for this arc created by @Bubbawheat:

HERE

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

Wrong_Number · 12-24-2011 05:11 AM

Despite the odds and apparently not being a very worthy arc, The Golden Age Secret of the Paragon Society has somehow reached 400 plays while still maintaining a 5 star rating. Thanks to the people that have played and enjoyed the arc.

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

dugfromthearth · 12-26-2011 12:45 PM

Nice arc

contact has annoying personality but it fits and is not too annoying
many shorter missions, so more story than grind
simple plot that is interesting and develops