Dr. Aeon's Challenge: A Player's Perspective
By
3Mile,
Posted on: 2009-12-07 21:33 in Mission Architect
Quote:
Thanks for the review -- glad to hear you enjoyed the arc, first-person POV and all! The in-game feedback was much appreciated too re: Rikti speech in M5. I've been considering adding some more optional "flavor" objectives to M4 to make it feel less repetitive (it's a pretty big map, after all).|
Originally Posted by Bubbawheat
Who Dares Win #454805 by @Zaphir
The Villain Reedeems: In this arc, you play the role of a Sky Raider Captain who is planning a raid on the Terra Volta core. Throughout the arc, he schemes against Crey to get supplies for the raid, plots against the Freakshow to prevent any interference, gets betrayed by his own Sky Raiders, who are working with the Rikti - a common enemy, and he ends up sacrificing himself in the end to protect Paragon City. A fully fleshed out character that does feel like he redeems himself in the end. The Arc as an Arc: I thought this was a very interesting device for the arc. Being warned at the arc description, I was aware from the beginning that the actions were not my character, but a recreation of another character and for me it worked well, making the character interesting while not feeling like my own character's decisions were being compromised. There is a lot of text, and it is all well written and interesting. I really enjoyed this arc and hope it does well in the contest. Good luck, and my as-I-go tweets are below as usual. [snip] |
Thanks again!
-- Z.
Quote:
(entire quote continues below, just snipped so the whole thing's not in the box)|
Originally Posted by GlaziusF
Review done as part of the CoHMR Aggregator project.
@GlaziusF Running this on a high-40s DBlade/Fire brute, +1 x2 with bosses on. |
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Havent run the official clone stuff for a while but it doesnt seem like this is referencing it. Good enough.
Not sure if my contact should be saying he stole from me as one of the first things.
Also the mission seems to be to retrieve Dr. Vazhiloks research, rather than my contacts, as the briefing indicates. At least I think thats what its indicating. Its a bit unclear. Have you considered colors?
The Freaks have been experimenting with cloning technology, and turned out three clones with random powers and slightly off appearances, though Id focus more on how theyre made of some weird substances.
Theyre supposed to be the product of Freakshow beerslam experimentation, right? Somehow theyve gotten a hold of Dr. Vahziloks notes, and...
Hang on. Is my contact unstuck in time or something? It seems like in his briefing the mission he described me as doing long ago is the one he just sent me on.
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So now Im going to go enforce the copyright on myself.
I find some master Freak doctor, apparently the man behind everything. He has a self-rez so he says his death line twice, but he doesnt seem like a stock mob. You should probably peel off the rez.
The lab station and maybe the clone pod (couldnt check before my friendly clones blew it away) have a standard description, which could stand to be customized for the situation at hand.
Apparently Im not interested in keeping any of this research for myself...
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Or suffering it to exist, as the next mission is going off-script to backstab my contact.
Hmm. The variant naming of the Banished Pantheon seems a bit off. Are you already using the lowercase-l for uppercase-I trick? You might want to use variant adjectives: decrepit, rotting, decayed, ossified, etc.
Also checking Dr. Mephits description, it seems like character-specific variables such as $name dont actually get replaced when theyre in names.
I am apparently holding his notes for ransom from himself. Little worried about how this map looks pretty much empty. I expect shenanigans.
Oh! The Freaks are making another play at this place. The bosss description should probably reflect this, rather than being a replay of his earlier one.
Ah. Thats why this place looks so different from a normal sewer level, its the Vahz lab. The last room doesnt show up on the automap.
For kicks I decide not to wreck the docs notes and see what happens. I loop around to a perfect clone, though unlike me hes vulnerable to my knockaround. Also the Crey show up and try to wreck both of us. (theres a linebreak in the middle of their $hisher line, just for reference)
Welp, looks like this missions not over until I destroy the file cabinet and see what happens next.
What happens is that Freaks run in for an ambush when its halfway down... but the doc just stands there. Mission completes and he doesnt even go ballistic. Aw.
And then it ends... talking like this is the end of clones, somehow.
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Storyline - ***. There are a couple things dragging this down. First is the introduction of my contact as someone Ive worked with before, even though he doesnt appear in-game anywhere. I can appreciate wanting to create an excuse for the clones, but honestly, the Rogue Isles is lousy with crazy mad scientists pursuing their own inventions. Itd probably make more sense to leave the doc alive at the end if he was just some random dude instead of someone I worked with in the past and who betrayed whatever little trust I had in him.
Second, though I dont want to make too strict of a comparison with the official clone arc (as it uses tools we dont have access to), my characters immediate EXTERMINATUS stance on the clones seems a little too extreme. Clones have uses, including being distractions or perhaps test subjects. Its never really explained well why were so bent on wiping them out, other than perhaps extreme paranoia or vindictiveness.
Design - ***. Sewers, sewers, sewers. Actually Im only mentioning this to note it, I dont believe it registered let alone bothered me while I was playing the arc. I cant think of many other times Ive actually seen a sewer map in the Mission Architect, and they may be a little annoying, but theyve just got chokepoints rather than the crampathons of the blue/crystal caves. If you wanted you could probably have the master Freak hole up in an abandoned warehouse, or move him to the Vahz lab and put my contact in a more conventional one.
But the last mission disappoints for a couple of reasons. First, though you cant help it, is that I was running this on a character with no build up and an armor set, which made my clone less of a challenge than the random-power types earlier, which popped Aim, Build Up, or both, and often had two damage sets aimed at me. Second, its mostly empty. There dont seem to have been any actual random spawns. Usually I take this as a hint that something crazys going to happen down the line, but nope. The arc just came to an end on a large, empty map with plenty of dead space. I didnt even get to throw down with my contact, which I was sure would somehow happen.
Not that Id necessarily want it to happen? But he cons as elite boss, so I was expecting something to happen that would get him into combat. I forget if civilians just work that way automatically.
Gameplay - ****. One thing about the sewers: theyre pretty straightforward. No way to miss very much. The single custom boss was a decent rumble, and some of the random doppelgangs were a little challenging but thats what you get with randoms.
Detail - ***. The destructibles I remembered to check had generic descriptions - no big deal, but look into it - and the custom Freak should probably have a different description the second time around since Ive seen him once already.
You definitely need to retool the initial briefing. My contact talks about the work we did in the long past, and then describes what the Freaks just did to him in the immediate past. Theres no linebreak or anything between the two, and since English doesnt really have different past tenses they melt and run together into a single event, which probably isnt what you wanted.
Overall - ***. A story that forces my hand a bit much, introduces a pretty superfluous connection, and ends on a special but largely empty map.
Aeon Challenge Special Comment - Judging by the alignment Im guessing this arc was supposed to be about a villain turning rogue. It doesnt really work in that sense.
Rogues are kind of an oddball alignment, I admit. Your big comic-book example of the alignment is, say, Catwoman, but she doesnt really fit the in-game idea of someone dreaming of riches and fame who does good things for bad reasons. Comic-book rogues are villains who arent twisted enough they they wont work with the heroes, or vice-versa, on occasion. That dreaming of riches and fame type of fictional character is more along the lines of Han Solo, who is what youd call a rogue by affiliation: he was hired by the Rebellion but in the end came back to save Luke less because he wanted to fight the Empire than because hed befriended Luke during the journey.
Rogue alignment choices on the tip missions arent really clear most of the time. But the commonality between Catwoman (when she acted like a rogue) and Han Solo isnt just that they occasionally did good things, but they they did them in public, or at least in front of heroes.
The supposed good action in this arc is executing all the clones, but for reasons Ive explained it doesnt exactly come off as anything more than a practical consideration: this is somebody whos going to have the power to mess with my plans, lets make sure that doesnt happen. But even if this was actually a good thing to do, its done pretty much in secret.
The story of a villain getting redeemed is, at least in game terms, the story of someone who decided to do good things for a payoff in cash or acclaim, and then kept doing them without getting paid. This arc doesnt seem to have a payoff, and it doesnt even work as an internal transformation because wiping out the clones isnt presented as a moral choice.
Trying to get through the requests before the deadline, but also need to work on my submission. Got one more done anyway with
When Madness Reigns Over Reason #452196 by @MrsAlphaOne
The Player's Redemption: In this arc you play a villain hired by Dr. Engelbracht, your contact, who is working for the 5th column to create human/animal hybrid super soldiers. He hires you, and apparently pays very well as you seem to complain about the jobs several times, as well as it being mentioned that the pay is pretty much the only reason you are doing these jobs. And the jobs start out as mundane villainous errands: stealing chemicals, stealing lab animals and kidnapping their vets. But through it all you keep running into High Hope who warns you of your contact's evil plans. And through these couple interactions, you care enough about his well being that when your contact wants to frame him to get him off the case, you decide to steal the planted evidence, and when your contact decides he needs babies to continue his research, that's where he crosses the line and needs to be dealt with regardless of how much he promises to pay. It's good in theory, but getting there felt rather convoluted at times.
The Arc as an Arc: Most of the arc is pretty solid, gameplay wise, although I think the animal-hybrid group could use some more members. I saw tons of male and female cheetahs, but only one of each sex of wolves. I would suggest one or two more pairs of minions, and possibly one more pair of lieuts (they don't have to be pairs, or you could have one sex be a minion and the other a lieut, but the way they're described, it makes sense to see matched pairs) I had some problems starting with the contact's accent. This isn't a comedy arc, but his accent comes off as being very comical rather than flavorful, it could be toned down quite a bit. Also in the fourth mission. Your contact is able to send a robot who can plant evidence and hide out as a robot, but can't make his way back home. And when I go to retrieve the robot (as well as destroy it and find and destroy the planted evidence since I like High Hope now) I find the planted evidence in the trash can. This mission feels like a total waste of time. And the plot of the final mission just seems so over the top evil that it's almost comical.
I hope this helps, good luck in the contest. As usual, tweets below.
#CoHMA Running When Madness Reigns Over Reason # 452196 by @ MrsAlphaOne from the Third Aeon Challenge
#CoHMA Mission descriptions warns of AVs, Extreme AVs, Extreme Bosses, and enemies with custom powers. Could be bad...
#CoHMA M1: contact has a very interesting accent, quite similar to one of my villains in my Aeon challenge arc.
#CoHMA M1: My German scientist contact is asking me to do three small tasks for him, the first is a pickup from Crey and frame Longbow too.
#CoHMA M1: Hopefully, the next two missions aren't also these same types of things.
#CoHMA M1: Ouch, he yells at me for his busy text. Hopefully the pay is very good. I'm not some two bit villain.
#CoHMA M1: I also have to destroy the security computers, which seems to generate an awful lot of talk about seeing the Countess and Hopkins
#CoHMA M1: I have a feeling that I'm collecting stuff for this doctor to betray me at the end.
#CoHMA M2: Now I'm off to an exotic zoo to capture 3 zookeepers, and ze zree animal zat are zere.
#CoHMA M2: Uh oh, the crates carrying the cages with the animals don't have any airholes!
#CoHMA M2: High Hope warns me about my contact, but he pays good so who cares. Also clue claims the crated DO have breathing holes.
#CoHMA M2: And the vet techs and doctor call me monster as I lead them out the door.
#CoHMA Continuing When Madness Reigns Over Reason # 452196 by @ MrsAlphaOne
#CoHMA Quick recap: My contact Dr. Engelbracht with thick mad German scientist accent has had me collect some chemicals, animals, and vets.
#CoHMA M3: Animals + Chemicals + contact = escaped mutant hybrids in the sewers. Time to play cleanup.
#CoHMA M3: For some reason all I'm getting is a bunch of Cheetahs, and one wolf. Wonder how many variations I'm not seeing.
#CoHMA M3: Ran into High Hope (Vigilante investigator) who gave me his cell number and ran off.
#CoHMA M4: Now my contact and I part ways. He has a transformer, err, transforming robot who planted evidence against High Hope.
#CoHMA M4: My contact's plan: I retrieve the robot. My plan: I destroy the robot, the false evidence, and warn High Hope.
#CoHMA M4: Seems really convoluted. I destroyed the briefcase robot, picked the planted evidence from the trash and kept it for blackmail.
#CoHMA M5: And just when I thought things were getting a little odd, the line that the Dr. crosses is attacking a hosp and stealing babies!!
#CoHMA M5: And even though I'm not doing the hosp job, I'm in the Mayhem Hospital to stop the 5th and save the babies!!
#CoHMA M5: Uh oh, I think I see an attempt at a German swearword (could be accurate, been a long time since I looked it up) from the 5th.
#CoHMA M5: Uh oh x2: "Clear the Surrounding Area" sounds like a defeat all... on the Mayhem Hospital map 
#CoHMA M5: Luckily the defeat all didn't require backtracking (or was something other than defeat all) and I saved the babies!!
Hmm I must have missed some stuff in the clue description and flavor text in the fourth mission, because I do recall explaining many things...like a ham handed PPD dropping it in the trash by not paying attention.
The bosses are Electric Eel hybrids, if you didn't have that on your mish settings you didn't get to see them. :-/ I had too many complaints about their end drain abilities to keep them as anything other than bosses.
Accent has been toned down.
I'll add a little more explanation as to why the robot can't make it out of the PPD itself.
Also, the whole "Morality" Aspect, it's completely limited right now until we get the tools to implement the morality choices. Until then you're pretty much "Forced" to pick what the author wants you to pick. Trust me, if I had the morality system to play with the whole thing woulda been awesome.
@MrsAlphaOne
Member of the [url="http://www.guildportal.com/Guild.aspx?GuildID=171543&TabID=1451954"]RIMC[/url]
[url="http://www.freewebs.com/mrsalphaone"]DA![/url]
[color=red]Official Beer Wench of PWNZ[/color] Arc 452196 When Madness Reigns over Reason. Play it and PM me your constructive criticism on what I can tweak before Oct 20th. <3 U all
Hey Bubbawheat, I don't know whether you'll be able to get to my arc in time with your queue being what it is, but whether it's before or after the deadline, I'd appreciate your feedback on "The Icari", Arc ID# 458576. 
The alignment for the arc is Heroic, and while it's designed to be soloed by Level 20 -24 Heroes, if you don't have any characters in that level range feel free to run through it with a high-level character. 
Supplemental Galactic Protectorate Fanfic
Woot! Thanks for the review, Bubba! A lot of stuff that can help me make it better. One thing I don't quite understand was this tweet:
Quote:
I checked the popup on that mission and it says nothing of the sort. Was this text in another location maybe?
| It's the big WSDPR map, and popup says shield generators are on top of the building. Wonder if it really works that way. |
A Guide to Champion Drama
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Ashcraft been published.
Got a little bit ahead of me, the tweets aren't the whole review, here's
The Sinister Song #454892 by @Ashcraft
The Hero and Player's Fall From Grace: In this arc, your contact Psy-Clipse has been tracking down a friend of hers who has become more creature than man. She recruits you for the final leg of her long-time quest to rid the world of this percieved monster. This arc definitely takes your hero to a dark place as you blow up an entire television station in hopes of saving the entire country, and you do end up killing the doctor/creature who plays somewhat sympathetic. But it doesn't seem like it takes much convincing, or evidence for that matter, to help blow up the WSDPR building, and she even blames you for it at the end. I get the feeling you're going for a Moby Dick vibe here, where the hunt for this creature she once knew has driven her mad, but I never felt much of a madness vibe from her. It's not something I can put my finger on, I just didn't feel it.
The Arc as an Arc: I enjoyed playing this arc, it wasn't too difficult even though there was a lot of Psi damage and I was playing a tank with no psi protection - yet never had to hosp. The enemies looked pretty good, but if you have room you might want to add one or two more for extra variety. Or vary the color scheme slightly on the ones you do have, maybe just a little something to make one stand out more. As for the WSDPR popup, I probably just misread it.
Good luck in the contest, tweets below as usual.
#CoHMA Playing The Sinister Song # 454892 by @ Ashcraft from the third Aeon Challenge.
#CoHMA Contact is Psy-Clipse, who used to be a prominent hero.
#CoHMA M1: Psy-Clipse is a psychic hero who left to track down some... creature. And also posits that I read minds too, for some reason.
#CoHMA M1: Psy-Clipse has tracked the creature to a tunnel with only two exits. She takes one, I take the other, and... is this Bugs Bunny?
#CoHMA M1: Snakes, why did it have to be snakes... actually I haven't played lowbie villains so I haven't seen snakes in a while.
#CoHMA M1: I see a box I can't use yet filled with somebody's stuff.
#CoHMA M1: The box is full of cables from the PTS in Cap.
#CoHMA M1: The Evil Creature? was Psi-based and wearing a doctor's coat. Very odd looking.
#CoHMA M2: This isn't bad per se, but personally psychic mumbo jumbo power levels posturing just bugs me.
#CoHMA M2: The Creature is heading towards a powerful psychic who has powerful psychic toys that we can't let him have. Time to head him off
#CoHMA M2: Lots of boxes, all different. some numbers, red crystals, and a geodesic dome.
#CoHMA M2: Not the Bioneural Psychic Capacitor Array!
#CoHMA M3: The BnPCA amplifies psychic power, but it turns out he's not using it on himself, but he's off to collect it from Widow trainees.
#CoHMA M3: I'm thinking a fire tank was not the best idea to bring on an arc with so much psi damage in it.
#CoHMA M3: Destroyed the thingy, contact suspects that the creature may be reading her mind... more to come later...
#CoHMA Continuing The Sinister Song # 454892 by @ Ashcraft
#CoHMA M3: Worried about her thoughts being read, contact debriefs me in a flash of images, but then continues talking normally for nxt mish
#CoHMA M4 (I meant): The stolen psychic energy could be enough to destroy the Rogue Isles, so we must destroy WSDPR (w/machine) first.
#CoHMA M4: I don't have to place the bombs, I just need to destroy some shielding so Psy can bomb it.
#CoHMA M4: Though I'm not sure how she knows all this, I suppose "it's a psychic thing" applies here.
#CoHMA M4: It's the big WSDPR map, and popup says shield generators are on top of the building. Wonder if it really works that way.
#CoHMA M4: Nope, first shield generator (nice big Rikti one) is right out front.
#CoHMA M4: Arachnos? What are they doing here?
#CoHMA M4: Whoa! Hello Deathsurge! Oh, I see now, this is supposed to be like the section of Cap. Could use a little more dialog though.
#CoHMA M4: Took a little while to find, but got all the generators... and that was all that was on the map. Too quiet if you ask me.
#CoHMA M5: I'm kind of feeling like Psy-Clipse's puppet rather than a Vigilante.
#CoHMA M5: The WSDPR explosion pegged me as a villain, and knocked out the Rogue Isle's Hosp transport system, so we can kill Psy's nemesis.
#CoHMA M5: In a Council mech factory with custom Security Guards hanging around.
Thanks a lot for the subjective feedback. I'll definitely working on improving her conversations to convey her obsession ... and offer more insinuation of the player's resistance to the idea. ^^
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Ashcraft been published.
Just to let you know Bubb I did go through your ARC twice.
Really I found your ARC impeccable for the most part. Which is why I never got back with you with anything useful. Wish I could have done more. Also have some health problems which have got in the way of many things the past couple of weeks.
Anyway I thought it was a good story. One thing that became obvious is that your writing style and mine are like two ends of the spectrum. You are very concise while I tend to tangent.
I was going to say add more text/be more descriptive because that's how I would do it. But realistically it all works in the video game environment and it's just your style.
You're a wonderful writer and I liked the story.
The only negative thing I could have said is that the doppleganger angle has been done to death and if you're going to do it they need a twist. With the tip missions we're fighting a doppleganger every other day.
Like my ARC Timeshift Vietnam is a heavy doppleganger ARC but I added time travelling, parallel universes, and even Vietnam to try and spice it up.
After writing a doppleganger arc myself there was one other thing that may be problematic. Random powers on dopplegangers. Running test after test I found that random powers to be WAY too random.
So you can see that my suggestions weren't even things you could really change or even want to change.
Best of luck to you big Bub!
And a few days behind on posting this one, but better late than never with
Arena #456200 by @FredrikSvanberg
The Hero's Fall From Grace: In this arc, the Arena challenge is between Pohsyb and Castle, and it's actually a gladiator tournament held in the Rogue Isles. And it also happens to be Castle's secret ambition, greater than just about anything else in his life. So much so that over the course of this arc, he leaves his wife and Paragon City itself for the game. Though he does have yet another change of heart at the very end, making it a kind of prequel as he mentions retiring and training new heroes, which he does in Peregrine Island.
The Arc as an Arc: This arc was really fun to play, I enjoyed it from beginning to end. There's a lot of touches that show a good knowledge of game lore, as well as a lot of inside jokes, and just a lot of stuff packed in there to keep things interesting. The only problem I had with it is that most of the arc is fairly straightforward story with some comic relief thrown in, the ending gets very lyrical with Castle and Amanda Vines. It's not too obtrusive as some of it is in busy texts and at the end of mission dialog, but it felt like a different tone than the rest of the arc. Not bad, just not my taste.
Good luck in the contest! Tweets below as usual.
#CoHMA Playing Arena # 456200 by @ FredrikSvanberg from the third Aeon Challenge
#CoHMA Contact is Amanda Vines, star reporter for WSDPR.
#CoHMA M1: Amanda Vines is reporting live from an Arena Gladiatorial Championship (with some nice game savvy touches). I'm a security guard?
#CoHMA M1: Some cyborgs have crashed the match between Castle and Pohsyb, guess this is my part of the job.
#CoHMA M1: I often forget to check this important fact until I realize I've misunderstood my role. This is a villainous arc.
#CoHMA M1: Got Amanda Vines trying to get in my way, and B4nKbUsTah causing trouble claims he was hired by Pohsyb.
#CoHMA M1: Some interesting VIPs hanging around to officiate, like Arbiter Sands.
#CoHMA M1: Interesting look for Pohsyb, all VIPs rescued, let's see what's next!
#CoHMA M2: Pohsyb wasn't penalized for his attempt at disruption, and the main event goes on as planned.
#CoHMA M2: And Vines has some interesting (though unimportant) busy text of her daydreaming about her lovelife.
#CoHMA M2: I'm also receiving mysterious orders through mission begin clues, I'm to get to Castle disguised as one of Pohsyb's gladiators.
#CoHMA M2: Pohsyb's and Castle's gladiators seem to be pretty evenly matched. Rare for most arc battles (white drones vs. black warwolves)
#CoHMA M2: Castle refused my bribe, so I invalidated the match by changing the rules and attacking the players. Match is rescheduled.
#CoHMA M3: After his beating, Castle might be more inclined to make a deal, and I find out the real deal is to get Natasha Vines out of jail
#CoHMA M3: Castle agreed to listen to me. Tried to get Krylov to reveal Pohsyb's weakness but then they both turned on me.
#CoHMA M3: Heh, Pohsyb's weakness? Agoraphobia. Why do you think he stays in his box?
#CoHMA M4: The re-match is ready to start but Castle is... at the Zig, trying to quell a breakout. But he also moved Ms. Vines like we asked
#CoHMA M4: And Arachnos spy Vines relation to WSPDR Vines? She's her mother!
#CoHMA M5: Turns out Castle was seduced by Vines's mother, and is currently being seduced by Vines herself. And want to meet with me tonight
#CoHMA M5: And mission begin clue already hints at strife in their relationship (Castle + Vines)
#CoHMA M5: And Castle has a re-change of heart, deciding to go back to Paragon City and claim he was mind-controlled. They always buy that.
#CoHMA M5: Several things at the end started to get overly lyrical, but it was a nice change of pace. Overall a great arc.
Hoping no more last minute/unadvertised submissions pop up as I continue with
Papers and Paychecks # 298290 by @ PW
The Player's and Villain's Redemption: In this arc, you decide to give up a life of crime for an honest job at the Crey Corporation. But of course Crey is not a dull job, and you have your share of office fights. The final mission is presented as somewhat of a moral choice, and it also covers an NPC who has followed your career path and made her own moral decision to turn on Crey - who is making Crey-Z glue from people. You can turn her in to Crey, returning to your life of villainy, or let the 15 minute timer run out, siding with Jenny the NPC and cementing your role as a Rogue (I'm guessing, as I chose villainy) Of course, if you do choose villainy which is the "success" choice in the mission, there isn't any redemption at all for the player, and the arc then relies on the redemption of Jenny the NPC. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem like a villain in the first place other than working for Crey, so that's not much of a redemption either. In a way, the entire arc could be looked at as the player's redemption, but there's a chance that it is undercut at the end if you turn in Jenny and get the Villain ending.
The Arc as an Arc: As with most of PW's arcs, this is filled with funny dialog, an interesting story, good mechanics, and just packed to the brim with stuff everywhere you look. I think it's a little bit of a stretch that you keep seeing some of the same people through every promotion, but even though that doesn't work as a story, it works for the arc. Maybe instead of having the same mailroom clerk in every mission, he could have a different name (even though they could all look the same) and just be a different mailroom guy. Aside from that minor quibble, I thought this was a great arc as usual.
Good luck in the contest, tweets below as usual!
#CoHMA Playing Papers and Paychecks # 298290 by @ PW
#CoHMA contact is Crey Agent Manning, a 20 year vet training the new recruits, aka me.
#CoHMA M1: Apparently I've decided to give up a life of crime and go to work at Crey Industries.
#CoHMA M1: And my first job at Crey is to label some boxes. Sounds fun!
#CoHMA M1: Warehouse got raided by Longbow, and a Manticore Task Force led by Fusionette. Time to see if brownnosing pays off.
#CoHMA M1: Shipping labels seem to be references to PW's other arcs, nice touch, but I think I got it because I already knew about them.
#CoHMA M2: Hopkins, my warehouse boss wrote me a letter of recommendation and now I've got an office job shredding documents. Joy!
#CoHMA M2: And this office is being attacked by Paragon Police. Geez, it's like this is a daily occurence or something.
#CoHMA M2: Apparently I'm not the stellar office worker, as I have the need to photocopy my butt.
#CoHMA M2: Found a motivational poster: Your cubicle might not be so great, but it beats being put in jail!
#CoHMA M3: And my path up the fast track continues as I'm promoted to R&D working on some experiments in Brickstown.
#CoHMA M3: The experiments have escaped. Looks like they're working on something with Devoured Earth and/or Hydra DNA.
#CoHMA M3: I "convinced" Dr. Summerfield to include me in the credit for this research.
#CoHMA M3: For some reason, Jenny keeps getting promoted alongside me.
#CoHMA M3: I have a feeling I will end up attacking something I'm not supposed to in mission 5 causing me to get fired.
#CoHMA M3: Even though Dr. Summerfield complained about my actions, I got the notice of Countess Crey, in a positive way.
#CoHMA M4: And now I'm a member of middle management, with an assistant and everything.
#CoHMA M4: Whew, no mayhem running around here... though everyone is suspiciously named "Automaton"...
#CoHMA M4: Status meetings went ok with Ken, but Barbie got a little uppity and had to be taken care of. As well as that pesky Nemesis Plot.
#CoHMA M5: And now I'm all the way up to Executive Vice President... though if I see Jenny again, I'll feel a betrayal coming on.
#CoHMA M5: And my first job as Executive Vice President? Downsizing the Crey-Z glue project, with whatever force is necessary, of course.
#CoHMA M5: I had it backwards, I end up betraying Jenny, who blew the whistle on the Crey-Z glue operation. Crey-Z glue is PEOPLE!
#CoHMA M5: Of course, I could have let the 15 minute timer run out, not giving up Jenny, but what else is a villain supposed to do?
#CoHMA M5: And the mission pop-up is set up to follow like the morality choice missions "Your alignment is now: Villain".
Thanks for trying Papers and Paychecks! I'm glad you enjoyed the dialog and all the little extras; now that we have 200K to play with, I tried to pack the arc with content.
Regarding the recurring mailroom clerk, one of the previous complaints I had was that there weren't enough common threads through the mission other than Jenny herself, so the mail clerk was one of the things I tried adding to address that. You are right that his reappearances (along with Jenny's career track paralleling the player's) may seem a bit too coincidental; I'm hoping that having more recurring characters outweighs that though.
Regarding the "success" track actually leaving the player as a pure villain with no redemption, this is certainly true. I was trying to make the last mission seem like one of the canon "morality" missions. I thought the "morality mission" angle, along with the player trying to "go straight" at the beginning, made this arc fit the "Going Rogue" theme pretty well. It is possible that giving the player a choice will end up disqualifying the arc; since it is not guaranteed that someone is redeemed. Though, in this scenario, arguably someone has "fallen". Hard to say; I guess we'll see what the judges think.
Anyhow, many thanks for giving the arc a try, and for the comments!
@PW - Police Woman (50 AR/dev blaster on Liberty)
TALOS - PW war journal - alternate contact tree using MA story arcs
=VICE= "Give me Liberty, or give me debt!"
This is the second, and probably last re-playing of an arc for this year's competition. I plan on playing as many of these as I can and posting my final thoughts before the winners are announced, and analyzing what I saw and vs. the winner(s). Anyway, onto
Unfair Trade # 373846 by @ Lazarus
The Heroes Fall From Grace: This arc was originally written for the second challenge, and has your contact without his powers. He has hired your help to discredit and capture a couple low-rent heroines: Flambeaux and Polar Shift, in order to steal their powers. But at the start of the arc, it mentions that Flambeaux has already started down the path of Vigilante, and they have been bickering amongst themselves. But by the end of the arc, nothing has really changed in either of them, other than they are now powerless. There is the possibility of Flambeaux wanting revenge, but it feels like an empty threat.
The Arc as an Arc: Aside from the challenge aspect, this is a solid and well put together arc. I enjoyed the bickering between Flambeaux and Polar Shift, as well as the good use of maps to convey that bickering without having more accurate tools at our disposal. The plot also didn't fall to the contact betrayal cliche I have seen so often in the MA. There was good bits of humor, and just a generally solid arc.
As this was a replay, and there weren't any major changes to the plot, I had a little fun with the tweets, as you will see below.
#CoHMA Replaying Unfair Trade # 373846 by @ Lazarus
#CoHMA Contact is Maxwell Hauser, can't remember if I made a "Good to the last drop" joke last time...
#CoHMA I'm playing my character Afrogator, and I have a feeling his personality is going to seep into the review... at least the tweet half.
#CoHMA M1: It's true the 'Gator spent some time in the Zig, but don't get me wrong, if Maxwell needs some help, the 'Gator is here to help.
#CoHMA M1: Especially if the 'Gator can wet his whistle at the same time. What's one safe deposit box as long as the 'Gator keeps his share.
#CoHMA M1: Ahh, Flambeaux and Polar Shift, the 'Gator remembers them well, and is none too fond of either of them.
#CoHMA M1: Aww, the 'Gator was hoping for a catfight. They did fight, but they spent most of the time hatin' on the 'Gator.
#CoHMA M2: Oh yeah, this is right up Afrogator's alley. The 'Gator needs some footage of the two heroines... leave it to me.
#CoHMA M2: This is the second arc that has a reference to TPS reports - the other? Papers and Paychecks by @ PW
#CoHMA M2: And the footage has been found. They did indeed continue their catfight after the 'Gator left. Must check for torn clothing.
#CoHMA M3: You may not be prettier than Ackbar, but if gator's know one thing, it's a trap, and Flambeaux and Polar Shift ain't gettin' away
#CoHMA M3: Maxwell asks, and the 'Gator delivers. Two hotties out cold... you can't buy lines like that.
#CoHMA M4: Maxwell's havin' a party and the 'Gator's invited. Two hero donors to get back Max's power. Though the 'Gator smells a trap.
#CoHMA M4: He got the power of fire and ice now and picks a name like Maxwell Demon? The 'Gator does not approve.
#CoHMA M4: And everything works out nicely for the 'Gator! I suppose Max did alright too.
#CoHMA looked back and the arc doesn't seem changed much from last time, maybe just tightened up. Still fun.
Quote:
Maybe you're not up to speed with all the Tip missions in issue 18 yet, but Flambeaux and Polar Shift show up very frequently in them. By level 20 Polar Shift is a vigilante and Flambeaux has gone rogue, I retooled this arc slightly to tie into that and make you a major factor in this later occurrence.|
Originally Posted by Bubbawheat
There is the possibility of Flambeaux wanting revenge, but it feels like an empty threat.
|
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Bubbawheat
#CoHMA M4: He got the power of fire and ice now and picks a name like Maxwell Demon? The 'Gator does not approve.
|
And now to my last requested arc. If you have an arc on my list on the front page that you would like reviewed, feel free to ask. I plan on also reviewing the arcs by Tangler, Samuraiko, and Wrong Number, and possibly another one or two if they have only a couple plays. But first, an arc by Mirror Man that's not about the Galactic Protectorate
The Icari # 458576 by @ Unknown Hero
The Heroes Fall From Grace: In this arc there is a well known Supergroup called the Icari consisting of five members and led by Patriotic Man. I play a rookie hero (caps at level 25) who is acting on her own, primarily using a website called ParagonNews.com. The Icari have their powers stolen from them from the Circle of Thorns, and some unnamed and unmentioned power gives them back their power in exchange for the body of someone that (I'm guessing here, pick one: was close to them, betrayed them, had power over them) and rescues them after their defeat at my hands. The characters are all fleshed out very well, each with their own personality, motivation, and backstory. Unfortunately with limited text space, there wasn't enough room for an explanation of what was really happening. If I tried to explain the plot, many sentences would end in "for some reason." At the end of the day, it is a tragic story, but it leaves me with a fist full of "why"s.
The Arc as an Arc: The strong point of this arc is the characters. Unfortunately, that is also one of the downsides. With five characters in the story, each with their own voice, motivations, personality, backstory, and text color (which is very helpful at keeping them straight), there is just a little too much to wade through. Like the first mission where you rescue each member in sequence, which involves a lot of running around and backtracking - it would help if maybe one of the characters were removed, and to remove some of the chaining, like rescue the leader first, then the other four (or less) in any order, followed by the boss.
There is also a non-combat mission which consists of 15 glowies on a multi-floor map (the cool demon-destroyed lab, but it also obscures some of the glowies in the final flame-filled room) with nothing else. I can understand that it's an attempt to set a mood of being completely empty and not knowing what happened, but in reality it's me clicking on superspeed and listening for every glowie, clicking like mad until I find them all, hoping I don't miss any and have to backtrack, then reading all of the clues at once at the end. There needs to be something else there, robot sentries, either ones that fight, or even ones that don't fight and just give information. Just something besides glowies.
Finally, while I understood the gist of what was going on, it was through filling in a lot of blanks and just plain guessing. I like the idea of what you were going for: all of the clues told bits and pieces of all of their stories, but in the end there were too many threads and pieces that I just couldn't fully piece together. For example, some of the things you find from Patriotic Man: a wedding photo, a couple other photos of him with other women, and the body of his wife holding their photo. Was he cheating on her? Was she jealous? Why did her death restore his powers. I'm not even sure she died by his hands. Who offered him back his powers? By the end of the arc, I was left with five characters that were very interesting to me, but I wasn't sure what really happened to them.
Sorry if I was a bit long-winded on this one, it's a sign that I liked where the arc was going, but I didn't like how it got there. Tweets below as usual.
#CoHMA Trying to play as much of The Icari # 458576 by @ Unknown Hero aka Mirror Man on the forums before heading to bed.
#CoHMA The contact is my computer, which I use to look up various news sites and whatnot. Always love working for myself.
#CoHMA M1: On the news site I see that Maestro and the Council have attacked Atlas Park, and the hero SG the Icari are there to help. Me too
#CoHMA M1: Hmm... the mission caps at 24, and uses the meteor Atlas map, I wonder if Shivans will come into play?
#CoHMA M1: Map seems awfully empty. Lots of yet-spawned objectives, or just purposefully empty-ish?
#CoHMA M1: The Icari are here, but in trouble. I find Patriotic Man first, the leader. (Who apparently can't handle a little Council attack)
#CoHMA M1: Crap, I'm now off to search for the second member of the Icari who chain-spawned off the first. How many are there going to be?
#CoHMA M1: Four down, this one says it's the last Icari, probably not last objective though.
#CoHMA Not as bad as it could have been - hostages were easily seen, and Maestro was it after 5 hostages.
#CoHMA M1: The Icari got all the credit for the Council's Defeat. When I was brought up, they all responded with varying degrees of dislike.
#CoHMA M2: I had grabbed a meteor fragment off of Maestro, and it's now pulling me off in a direction that has led me to a CoT base.
#CoHMA M2: Somehow I'm supposed to find 5 obelisks and defeat the ritual leader. The first one showed me an image of an Icari by a diff name
#CoHMA M2: Each obelisk is tied to one of the Icari along with their secret identity. And the leader Minos wants to get rid of them for good
#CoHMA M2: Minos claims the ritual is complete and the Icari are now powerless. If not for the level range, I'd think this was the 2nd chal
#CoHMA Just out of curiosity, I typed Paragonnews.com, the source my Hero has been using - completely unused, someone snap that up now!
#CoHMA M3: And now the Council are attacking the Icari where their alter-egos live.
#CoHMA M3: I just love the fact that Patriotic Man's plainclothes come nowhere near to covering up his superhero costume.
#CoHMA M3: And going through the building, it seems all the Icari have done something or other unsavory.
#CoHMA M3: I jumped the gun a little, a couple of the clues aren't something bad.
#CoHMA M3: And I get a high tech device off Council leader that's acting just like the meteor fragment.
#CoHMA M4: The device is actually a remote log-in to the Icari Supergroup base, which is currently on fire.
#CoHMA M4: It's the destroyed tech base with the footprints. Slightly overused since its release, but always fun to hop down the vators.
#CoHMA M4: Holy Shazbot! I just realized there's 15 glowies to find across the whole base. No enemies yet, but only in 2nd room.
#CoHMA M4: Still no enemies and 1 clue to go. Though several bodies were in one room on fire making it hard to find them.
#CoHMA M4: This fills in a lot of story, though it was rather boring. I'm all for non-combat missions, but not empty map + 15 glowies.
#CoHMA M4: Long glowie short - all 5 had demons in their past, they have been removed, and the Icari's powers returned. Sounds bad...
#CoHMA M5: I'm in a warehouse fighting the evil versions of the Icari, it's a nice sectioned off warehouse map so no doubling up.
#CoHMA M5: And if I had any doubts about the Icari being a reference to Icarus, it is removed by the last words "My wings... are melting".
I'd love to see what you think of my arc (Duplicity - see right half of my sig for details)
Managed a quick/creepy two mission submission from Tangler
The Cave # 459590 by @ Frija
The Hero's Fall From Grace: The hero in this case is you, well you from a different dimension, or possibly a clone - things weren't entirely clear. You wake up in the first mission with no memories, and the clues tell about a future for Paragon City where nearly all the heroes have been wiped out from some unknown cause. You were the leader of a 7 man team, but now they are all missing and their likenesses comprise the robots you've been fighting, which you find out you also had created. It ends with you finding these heroes, but they don't speak with you and you fight your doppleganger who has turned evil.
The Arc as an Arc: This arc reminds me very much of The Icari for two reasons: The first reason is The Icari's M4 vs. The Cave M1. They are both trying to accomplish very similar goals - you're in a place with no real people in it and you're trying to figure out what happened by finding a bunch of clues. In The Icari, I clicked superspeed and just grabbed all the clues as fast as I could so I could read through them at the end. In The Cave, I had to fight for the clues, and actually read through them as I got them. Also in the Icari, I wasn't sure how all the pieces fit together exactly. In The Cave, when I had all the pieces, it felt like a more complete picture of what happened. Unfortunately after such a great first mission, I was let down by the second mission that raised many more questions, and didn't answer any of them. The second reason is like The Icari, I liked where this arc was going, but in the end, I didn't like how it got there.
As usual, tweets are below.
Ok, I lied #CoHMA Playing The Cave # 459590 by @ Frija aka Tangler on the forums because it's short. (note: earlier tweeted about not playing MA that night)
#CoHMA Contact is my own thoughts, represented by a pillar of Ice and Flame.
#CoHMA M1 "A Strange Place": Apparently I'm in a strange alien place with high technology and no memory of how I got here or what to do.
#CoHMA M1: There's a big sign right in front of me that says "Portal Corporation" I wonder if that's ironic or accidental?
#CoHMA M1: And that seems like an obvious answer to the objective "Find out where you are"
#CoHMA M1: I'm met by hostile Aegians, silver mechs using a lot of the new clockwork costume pieces.
#CoHMA M1: I have found a computer with a news report from Day 7... refraining from reading it until I know it's correct place in order.
#CoHMA M1: I found someone's personal log that claims I helped design these Aegian units, and made an odd choice for their looks.
#CoHMA M1: This arc reminds me very much of the Icari that I just played, but these clues are drawing me into the story much better.
#CoHMA M1: Ok, now this is a great use of the doppleganger. I used a communicator and a ghostly image of myself (in my SG) started talking.
#CoHMA M1: There were six other heroes that had been missing, and I was searching for. Footage shows them captured by the Aegians.
#CoHMA M1: According to the other clues there was an outbreak in Paragon City and most are dead including my team who look like the Aegians.
#CoHMA M2 "You Find Yourself in a Dark Place": Assumption was slightly wrong, the 6 heroes were completely unrelated to each other-on Earth.
#CoHMA M2: I'm walking down a long long cave, nothing to see yet.
#CoHMA M2: Ahh, Tyrant's lair map, and all of the heroes I've been searching for. Time to get some answers.
#CoHMA M2: None of the heroes say anything as they are rescued, and an alternate version of myself is ready to fight.
Hey Bubba, I was pleasantly surprised when I found out you reviewed my arc.
While I wished I had more time to tweak this arc before submitting it, I have been getting some great feedback such as yours from those that picked it up. I wasn't sure how this arc was going to be received to be quite honest, so it's great to hear players actually enjoying (at least some bits of) it. 
I may give it another rewrite after the comp is over to address issues raised by players, due to the overall positive response, and hopefully there would be some interest for a replay.
A Penny For Your Thoughts #348691 <- Dev's Choice'd by Dr. Aeon!
Submit your MA arc for review & my arcs thread
Thanks for reviewing "The Icari", Bubbawheat! I'm glad you enjoyed the characters, even if you didn't enjoy some of the gameplay.
Some of the questions you have are actually answered in the arc. Due to the limitation on the number of clues you can have in an AE arc, I had to cut some of the more redundant clues which nonetheless helped clarify some of the plot points to the player. The plot points are still there, but you have to pay attention to the dialogue and character descriptions to catch them all.
Anyway, I hope to be able to play some of the other entries into the contest if I get the free time, though I know I've already played yours. Good luck in the contest, Bubbawheat!
Supplemental Galactic Protectorate Fanfic
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Mirror_Man
Thanks for reviewing "The Icari", Bubbawheat!
I'm glad you enjoyed the characters, even if you didn't enjoy some of the gameplay.Some of the questions you have are actually answered in the arc. Due to the limitation on the number of clues you can have in an AE arc, I had to cut some of the more redundant clues which nonetheless helped clarify some of the plot points to the player. The plot points are still there, but you have to pay attention to the dialogue and character descriptions to catch them all. Anyway, I hope to be able to play some of the other entries into the contest if I get the free time, though I know I've already played yours. Good luck in the contest, Bubbawheat! |
I think the biggest problem, like I think I mentioned, is that with so many characters and so many plot threads, that it's hard to keep them all straight. Even with the different colored text, it's hard to follow all five threads at one time. I think if you dropped one of the characters - I would suggest the android as the least identifiable character, it would go a long way towards tightening things up.
For the record, similar suggestions were made to my arcs. I started with five characters. I did exactly as Bubbawheat suggests and used the extra space to flesh out the remaining characters. I tend to think they're much stronger, and I've had quite a few reviewers agree. It's hard to let go of your babies, but these folks usually don't steer you wrong. (Of course, given the number of arcs you've written and the time you spend on the boards, you already know that, Mirror man. )
The SOLUS Foundation - a Liberty and Pinnacle SG
"The Consequences of War" - Arcs # 227331 and 241496
The arcs keep coming...
Duplicity #85847 by @Soul Storm
The Hero's Fall From Grace: In this arc, your contact is Romulus the Warshade who has been tracking a villain called the Shapeshifter under the radar for quite some time now. Originally he is guarded at letting you in on the information, but then he tries to set you up as the Shapeshifter, and you find out that he's been working with her for quite a while. And in the end, you manage to defeat the Shapeshifter and send Romulus to the Zig for his involvement.
The Arc as an Arc: My biggest problem with this arc was Ballista and his [Detention Field], which made both of his fights - he shows up twice - very long and drawn out. My suggestion is what others have done and make a custom Ballista who has a very similar costume to the Longbow. As for the story itself, it might just be a mood thing, but it struck me as an average story, not great, not bad, but still head and shoulders above most of what's out there.
As usual, tweets below.
Playing Duplicity #85847 by Soul Storm
#CoHMA Contact is Romulus the Warshade (not ITF Romulus) who is a hard-nosed hero who has yet to get his nemesis Psimon Omega.
#CoHMA M1 "Off the Record": Contact warns me that it's all off the record, and I've only got 30 minutes before Longbow arrives.
#CoHMA M1: All I know is there's 2 pieces of evidence that must be destroyed, as well as all witnesses... in 30 mins.
#CoHMA M1: I enter a cold warehouse filled with Council... and questions.
#CoHMA M1: Following orders, I destroyed the first computer without looking through it.
#CoHMA M1: There's a note from a mysterious T.S. saying to search the hard drive.
#CoHMA M1: Romulus claims that TS stands for The Shapeshifter who has infiltrated the Council and has me on their hitlist.
#CoHMA M2 "Rescue the Informant": I had found out about someone held in a cargo ship, this is someone with info on TS and must be rescued.
#CoHMA M2: Big boat, I'm heading to the back hoping I don't overpass him.
#CoHMA M2: The longbow probably should have showed up after the rescue. Was a boring walk back to the entrance. (or not walk at all)
#CoHMA M2: The Informant says all he knows is some information on where the shapeshifter is, that he found on a computer.
#CoHMA M2: And when I return, Romulus berates me for leading the Longbow there... and why am I working for him again?
#CoHMA M3 "Confront The Shapeshifter": Romulus informed Longbow of our arrangement, they don't like it, he doesn't care. Now for TS.
#CoHMA M3: And it's an ambush. Longbow greet me at the door, feels like Romulus sold me out, but it's too soon to tell.
#CoHMA M3: After a frikken insanely long battle with Ballista (stupid force field cage) followed by an ambush, I pull the info from the safe
#CoHMA M4 "Eye for an Eye": I now don't fully trust Romulus, but decide to go after Council on my own to find out for myself who TS is.
#CoHMA M4: I found some survaillance footage of Romulus and a mysterious stranger.
#CoHMA M4: Faced down Vandal and he thinks the Shapeshifter must be posing as Arakhn.
#CoHMA M5 "Defeat the Shapeshifter": Turns out Romulus isn't there, but I know of a nearby Council base where I might find answers.
#CoHMA M5: Not the frikkin Ballista again. Grrr....
#CoHMA M5: Ballista finally defeated (12 min fight), onto Maestro.
#CoHMA M5: Ballista was possibly Nictus infected, and found the real Arakhn in a fridge.
#CoHMA M5: Bah, this is going to be tough, Maestro is a +1 EB.
#CoHMA M5: Found a Longbow Officer in the back, he thinks I'm cool.
#CoHMA M5: And it was the shapeshifter all along - the informant, the Ballista in the Longbow ambush, and she was working with Romulus.
You said you'd get to mine eventually, so I'm cool. As always, looking forward to your insights.
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
Dark_Respite's Farewell Video: "One Last Day"
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
Alright, this is the last one I can get to before the winner is posted tomorrow. This is probably the last one I do on this challenge other than Glazius's since it was requested, fits the theme, but wasn't entered. Onto:
Kill or Cure # 459581 by @Samuraiko
The Villain's Redemption: In this arc you find and then follow the trail of a villain named Dissolution who was denied by the Alpha team when she was 15 then was captured by Rikti and escaped with their knowledge. She used that info to create a virus she planned on using to destroy the entire Rikti race, and all those with Rikti infections. But when you decide to cure her of her own Rikti virus and her Rikti contagion as well, she enters prison with hope in her heart.
The Arc as an Arc: This was a very well written arc, it covers a lot of great elements. Your own actions uncover the clues that lead to the villain, and your own decisions (even if they're technically made for you, they don't feel like a forced decision, they feel like the right decision) and actions help shape the course of the later missions. I did have a few qualms with some of the gameplay decisions, like a couple of the defeat alls, and there were several repetitive glowies and/or destructibles, and in some cases they were all required when the non-clue ones didn't really need to be. I also wasn't familiar with the SERAPH building map and didn't know I needed to go inside the building. But overall, nothing too major, and easily fixable.
As usual, tweets below.
#CoHMA M1: Playing Kill or Cure # 459581 by @Samuraiko
#CoHMA Contact is Rebecca Brinell, the initial Science hero contact from SERAPH.
#CoHMA M1: Ooh, I have Omega clearance, that must be good... oh wait, the arc says that can't be good.
#CoHMA M1: Up against Knives of Artemis to save some data, SERAPH seems to think it's important to save at least.
#CoHMA M1: KoA presence on this outdoor map feels light, like they're all deliberately placed, though some repeated patrol dialog.
#CoHMA M1: Gone around in two circles, still haven't seen any objectives yet.
#CoHMA M1: I defeat Sister Niobe and everyone else leaves... except that they don't. Too bad, I like the last line- I hate when they do that
#CoHMA M1: Even if I had trouble finding the entrance, this is a great map that's not used enough in MA arcs.
#CoHMA M1: Love the database shudown code.
#CoHMA M1: I don't know who hired them, but KoA were looking for Rikti Lab results and DNA data, but didn't get them.
#CoHMA M2: And Gaussian's got my number on speed dial now, or maybe he just looked it up in the red, white, and blue pages- the hero section
#CoHMA M2: And it's Malta attacking the Vanguard base in Grandville? What's next, Carnies?
#CoHMA M2: A couple repeated patrol dialogs, not a big deal though.
#CoHMA M2: Sounds like the KoA are missing word from a team in Steel (or is SERAPH in Steel? I forget)
#CoHMA M2: Boo! ambush w/sapper, Yay! [Consume]
#CoHMA M2: You know, if you wanted to be super nice, you could always make a custom group called <Malta> with all the Malta but sappers?
#CoHMA M2: Reading is FUNdamental - "Take all Malta Operatives into custody" means "Defeat all. Go me :P
#CoHMA M2: Found a rikti computer with Earth computer tech grafted to it. Also Malta were hired by "Dissolution" for a LOT of money.
#CoHMA M2: The Rikti/Earth hybrid tech was previously stolen from SERAPH (not MAGI?) and contact is worried what Malta got from it.
#CoHMA M3: Dr. Brinell is very worried, and can't find info on "Dissolution", but a weird guy on the streets told me about many missing Lost
#CoHMA M3: And I'm in the sewers looking for clues. Wonder if it's reminiscent of the Icari and the Cave clue missions?
#CoHMA M3: No enemies yet, first glowie was a pile of Rikti bones with no clue attached.
#CoHMA M3: Going on a glowie hunt. Going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day. I'm not scared. #YouRecognizeThisIfYouHaveKids
#CoHMA M3: Whoops. Fiddled with a Rikti comp and summoned an ambush on my butt.
#CoHMA M3: Also found a mainframe with the missing files. Not sure how I know they weren't copied anywhere else though.
#CoHMA M3: I thought this was Dr. Vahz's lab. Wonder if there's any significance?
#CoHMA M3: One of the bodies had an ambush... of a lvl 40 Rikti, and several lvl 29 Lost.
#CoHMA M3: Found the important body, but the other repetitive ones are all required too.
#CoHMA M3: Found a note from Dissolution. She was refused by Alpha team @ age 15, now she's back with a vengeance for Rikti, and Lost too.
#CoHMA M3: As a mostly non-combat glowie hunt, I rate this (mission) better than Icari, but worse than the Cave.
#CoHMA M4: Dissolution wants to eradicate all traces of Rikti, and plans on an air-transmitted bioweapon.
#CoHMA M4: And Nemesis conveniently has a weather control station almost ready to go.
#CoHMA M4: Luckily I'm playing a fire tank, I'm sure I'm hot enough to destroy any traces of the virus.
#CoHMA M4: Another defeat all? Not entirely sure why, though a recorded message popped up from somewhere too.
#CoHMA M4: Aha, found a transparent ally standing around. Still neat though.
#CoHMA M5: Dissolution's plan is to open the portal and kill all the Rikti on their homeworld.
#CoHMA M5: But my plan (and kudos for making it *my* plan) is to cure Dissolution of her Rikti mutation, showing here there's hope still.
#CoHMA M5: Yeah, that wand I used so long ago *checks other active missions, sees "Cured 0 of 20 Lost", whistles and goes on my way*
#CoHMA M5: I defeated Dissolution, but still have to "prevent her from opening the portal." Hmm...
#CoHMA M5: Oh, killed the Rikti over on the side to complete (probably a mistake) and the cure worked on her. Now to see what she says.
#CoHMA M5: She returns to Paragon City with hope, and without the Rikti virus carried inside her own body now that she's no longer partRikti
#CoHMA M5: And it has a nice ending. The virus research can be used to find a mass-cure for the Lost.
Thanks again for all your help Bubba. I will also feedback your ARC because one good turn deserves another.
I've only been playing 7-8 weeks now and just hit 50(hero) today. Started in Praetoria on top of it all. My only other character is a lvl 20 villain.
With your help I think I've improved on my ARC quite a bit.
All references to Highwing were taken out and replaced with more suitable descriptions.
Added 3 more custom enemies which completely changed the dynamics of 'Crush'. Really pumped up the atmosphere.
Steelthread and Darkhosis have been slightly pumped up in power.
Level range changed to - 20-54
Tried to make some of the writing a bit smoother. It's difficult and when I start to correct some things I remember why I wrote it that way in the beginning. Because of the text limits. Pretty much at the max and having to sum up entire ideas into a sentence isn't easy. Sure we've all experienced the same thing.
Mission 4 I really wish I had a solution to make it better. My original idea was an escort/betrayal where you didn't have to get strung out finding 3 objectives. Due to the bug I had to turn Darkhosis into an ally then betray. It got complicated when I really wanted to keep it simple.
My COH lore phalacies will just have to be forgiven
Lot of my time has been spent in MA as well. I've tried to stay away from getting too lore heavy in my ARCS. The odd relations in my story The Vengeful Heart aren't meant to be taken to heart. pun pun!
With MA also we only have so many choices. You want to use a spaceship you can use Arachnos or pretend a tech lab is a ships interior I suppose. My point I guess is that we don't have many choices, like you know, and if a story has an Arachnos symbol then it's something we just live with.
If anyone has a better idea on how to end my ARC 'The Vengeful Heart' I am all ears. Being as objective as possible- I really like the story. While the ending I don't think is bad considering DEV ARCS in game have left me searching for items on big maps. Not that I like those ARCS but there's many ARCS ingame that are in far worse condition than my last mission.