What keeps you away from AE arcs?
Which is why I'm in favor of the 'like' system of ratings.
Taking it a step further, I'd like to see an Amazon-style system of user reviews appended to the arc, identified by global handle. I'm usually able to get an accurate sense of whether or not I'll like a book by reading what other people enjoyed or didn't enjoy about a title. |
Combining these with "Number of Times Completed" versus "Number of Times Abandoned" would help give us a sense of a thread's worthiness. Plus the "can only rate once completed" would be good. Not a huge boost, maybe, but it would be something.
The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction
What kept me away for a long time was what a number of people have mentioned, which is the very existence of the AE buildings in-game. Superheroes playing holographic games of their own missions? Sounds kind of ludicrous, and it wasn't til recently that I thought of ways I could use this to my advantage, using its own in-game story existence as a jumping off point for stories.
I realised that if it's a holographic system, it's still an electronic medium, so villains, heroes, spy groups...they could all utilise it for threats, challenges, covert missions...I did a single-mission arc just this last week with the major NPC mobs from Praetoria and wrote it under the pretext that Longbow wants heroes in Praetoria to scout for them (thus giving people an RP/IC reason to go to a zone that tops out at 20 and has no appreciable mobs but plenty of badges). |
The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction
But the second part of your post got me thinking that maybe the devs should instead choose a "trusted player" (they work for free!) to pick out some of the better arcs and label them as such... somehow. Pull aside List-Maker-X and ask, "give us a list of five good heroic arcs for levels 25-35"... Or something. Anything.
Maybe they could even just look at the lists we make and rubberstamp a few of them. |
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Soometimes, I'm just looking for a quick fix, and it really doesn't seem like there are a whole lot of one-shot missions that aren't farms. It's been a while since I paid attention, but I know the last time I really cared, about a year ago, the prevailing attitude was just "Single mission arcs can't be good". I think that's false, but since the people who seem to actually care about AE seem to endorse that attitude, it creates a self defeating spiral. Maybe someone should host a "best single-mission arc" contest?
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<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison
Sadly MA arcs lack anything substantially different (read, interesting) from conventional mission content, to merit a separate contact.
Familiar maps meet familiar objectives, with pseudo intriguing story lines, which isn't to say there are no creative authors in the games community, there are simply limited tools to breath life into something less conventional then an average tip mission. Player generated maps would be a start in that direction, using the base editor with some added features. ... |
These days, there has to be a specific reason for me to need tickets for me to run any AE content. Basically if I need lower level salvage and don't feel like paying for it, or if I want to roll some low level recipes.
Most of the time I do step in the AE, it will be to do my own arc. It's nothing special, but I know that it at least has:
* some relation to cannon
* some reason WHY it is in virtual reality
* some standard mobs I know will reward (two missions of Crey, and I like beating on Crey)
* my custom mobs which *I* think make sense, don't think are overpowered, and just like seeing every now and then
I've come to grips with nobody else playing it, and understand why. At four missions it's VERY LONG, even though two missions can essentially be stealthed. Custom critters can be a put off. It's set for higher levels. There's an ELITE BOSS at the end (though you get an ally). It's not very funny, it's not a farm. While structurally ok (grammar, spelling, etc), the writing isn't particularly epic. But I know what I'm getting.
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What I'd *like* to see are for some of the best one mission arcs to be adapted into tip missions, though I suppose that would really require two variations per mission. Scout for missions that could easily slip into cannon (stock mobs except for a boss or two), put them in the tip rotation. Creators would get a kick out of it, and there would be some more tip variety. Those missions might also feel more "real".
Suggestions:
Super Packs Done Right
Influence Sink: IO Level Mod/Recrafting
Random Merit Rolls: Scale cost by Toon Level
I generally can't be bothered to try anymore. There's not much point.
I've written dozens of arcs since AE's inception. At any given time, I have between three and eight arcs published. They rotate through fairly regularly as I write stuff that I consider to be better than the old stuff. This year alone, I cranked out something like sixteen or seventeen mission arcs, including a ten-arc, 40-odd mission storyline for my weekly coalition group.
Earlier this year, I decided to stop writing for a general audience and just focus on writing for that coalition. There's a very simple reason why.
In the past year, I've had exactly five plays on all of my arcs combined that did not come from my coalition. One of them was on Between Love And Loyalty (still published) asking if it could be put on the Excellent Arcs thread. One of them was on Vault of the Descended (since unpublished) and loved it. Three were from a team who'd run one of the version of The Price of Freedom, the feedback from which I was able to greatly improve the arc's ending for Aeon's Third Challenge. Goodness knows why I bothered.
As a writer, it's obvious to me that my ideas of Fun and Challenge aren't at all in line with what other peoples' are. I write missions for teams to play--people want to solo Architect missions. I write missions with a specific tone with mild humour sprinkled in--people either want epic dramas that explore the human condition or lolbat. I write an arc that's as long as it needs to be to tell the story--people want something they can churn through in under fifteen minutes. I like the idea of tactical encounters that require a plan other than Tank And Spank--people want to tap some buttons while chatting about the latest Thing.
I've written everything from simple lowbie arcs that can be played on Autopilot to intentionally difficult end-game-like encounters that can easily cause teamwipes if the group can't figure out how to overcome the obstacle. To my credit, I have yet to publish a single arc that cannot be beaten, though I've had a few coalition members stare aghast at a couple of challenges I've thrown at them until they figure out a way to deal with it. Those are the rewarding moments, to me.
All that shows up when I'm a player. I got bored very easily with the vast majority of arcs I have run in the past. They're either no different from any other newspaper mission I could be running or the author can't figure out the difference between "tactical challenge" and "arduous." (Hint: Aim, Build Up, Tar Patch, and nukes are not powers that should go on every single Lt or Minion-entity on the map without careful consideration) Nevertheless, I have finished almost every arc I've ever started--sometimes after much slogging and against my better judgement. The only times I don't finish an arc are if it's an obvious farm (not my thing) or I'm crunched for time and have plans for that character later. I leave feedback on every arc I run. Sometimes that feedback has suggestions for improvements and other times it's just a nod to the author that someone played his/her arc. I'd estimate that a third of the time, I get a message back within a week along the lines of "Wow, I didn't know that was still published."
It's fairly telling how clogged the AE is if the authors themselves don't even remember that they have something out there for others to run. Meanwhile, the authors who update their arcs regularly in response to feedback twiddle their thumbs waiting for someone to run into them with the Random button.
I try to run a handful of arcs a month just to support the system. Sometimes I only get in one or two arcs and other times I'll splurge and run nothing but AE missions for most of a weekend. I like some of the Dev's Choice and HoF and dislike others. I try to run a few from lists people have compiled or CoHMissionReview. I don't usually write reviews because I find it more interesting to talk to the author directly than to leave an essay--like I'm doing now, I suppose.
Short version, then (too late).
Right now, I want Incarnate stuff. Even when that's done, I doubt I'll do more than my usual approaches to AE here and there. I haven't published anything in a couple months and am having difficulty psyching myself up to write a New Year's arc for my coalition.
There's just no point to it anymore, which is a damn shame because it's potentially one of the coolest things about this game. Sadly, the implementation simply falls short.
Someone get the PvP, AE, and base editing playerbases together and tell them to stop putting each other down and start realizing how much they have in common.
@Cybernetic Hobo
Dear Devs: Stop ignoring your niche communities. Base builders, PvPers, Architect authors--we pay our subscription, too.
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
Just because Paragon came up with an explanation to differentiate player-made vs. official canon doesn't mean that one can't ignore that explanation and still RP.
The AE building is not a virtual reality, it is just another teleporter.
![Smile](images/smilies/smile.gif)
Side note: I have characters who never touch the AE, those who only leave the AE to train, those who do mostly canon content with some AE mixed in, etc. The AE is great for leveling past contacts with content I've I don't feel like doing again or those with content I just don't like.
Variety is good; the AE helps in that regard.
I write missions for teams to play--people want to solo Architect missions.
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So yes, I solo AE arcs. I want to read what you wrote, not just kill stuff mindlessly while flavor dialogue zips past too fast for me to read, nevermind savor.
The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction
Yes, I do. the reason has nothing to do with you, really, but is caused by two factors: I prefer to go at my own pace rather than be pulled along or held back by a group (and with the dogs I own, I often have to be absent unexpectedly for varying amounts of time), the second being the way the game has been set up since the jump: only the mission-holder gets to read the mission text. What good is your awesome story if I can't see 80% of it? In that situation, all I'm doing is beating up mobs I'd otherwise see in the outside game and getting crappy rewards to boot.
So yes, I solo AE arcs. I want to read what you wrote, not just kill stuff mindlessly while flavor dialogue zips past too fast for me to read, nevermind savor. |
This means I will sometimes skim the text and my experience of the story suffers from it. Just like canon content, I prefer to solo it so I can give the story my full attention.
This doesn't keep me away from AE arcs, but it definitely makes me more choosy.
Craft your inventions in AE!!
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Play "Crafter's Cafe" - Arc #487283. A 1 mission, NON-COMBAT AE arc with workable invention tables!
I solo AE arcs too, for mostly the reasons people stated. Also, from a story immersion perspective, most arcs, both in AE and in the regular game, are written with the soloist in mind. The contact is speaking to you, not the team; they're just along because you asked them. So I write for soloists, since that's where the audience is, and that's what suits my playstyle as well, then balance encounters accordingly. So anyone who has played my arcs and made comments about how so-and-so should be an AV...no, they really shouldn't. AVs are team content that scales down to EBs as a nod to soloists. I write solo content, I might as well just make an EB and avoid the "Dominators and Controllers need not apply" warning.
Let's face it, there's no point in giving your boss lovingly crafted death lines when a team is just going to drop him in three seconds anyway.
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
If we could color code the attacks of our created enemies like we can ours, if they had access to a few pool powers, and big dreamin' here, if we could IO our mobs, lol. And really big dreamin' here, if we could control the AI of the bosses and such, in the way you can control your allies in Dragon Age, for example.
It was just a thought, nothing more nothing less. Those "arbiters of artistic perfection" at least wouldn't steer you into a farm, an abandoned arc that was never finished or something poorly written. It wouldn't be a guarantee of "artistic perfection" (or whatever), I'd probably not like some of them as well, but it would be a start.
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While it is true and much appreciated that the reviewers (or most "active" member of the AE community) won't steer you into a farm, they are still sending a lot of very good arcs into the 4 star oblivion.
It's funny how they hate it when it happens to them but to do it to other authors in the name of their own definition of "artistic perfection" is perfectly fine....
"Officially" downstaring other authors' arcs for unimportant details is almost as bad, to me, as being a 1 star bandit. It's even more hypocritical.
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I completely agree with Olantern's post. The AE community is what keeps me away.
While it is true and much appreciated that the reviewers (or most "active" member of the AE community) won't steer you into a farm, they are still sending a lot of very good arcs into the 4 star oblivion. It's funny how they hate it when it happens to them but to do it to other authors in the name of their own definition of "artistic perfection" is perfectly fine.... "Officially" downstaring other authors' arcs for unimportant details is almost as bad, to me, as being a 1 star bandit. It's even more hypocritical. |
Actually, there's only really 2 "reviewers" left in the AE community: Myself and GlaziusF. Glazius rates *everything* 5 stars in-game no matter what he puts in his review. And I typically rate 5 stars if I like the arc at all, and avoid rating it if I don't care for it. Venture is more or less the most critical of the AE reviewing community, but he's been mostly inactive for quite a while now.
"Officially" downstaring other authors' arcs for unimportant details is almost as bad, to me, as being a 1 star bandit. It's even more hypocritical.
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And besides, giving an arc a four-star rating ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE A BAD THING. The fact that it is a bad thing is more a problem with the ratings system and search engine than the person handing out the four-star rating. The search engine defines a four-star rating as "excellent."
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
It can be too hard to find a good arc, and I do like to solo so I can read everything. I know it's been said before.
I do have a trick that sometimes lands me good arcs to play, though. I play on Virtue mostly, and when I see a good looking character with a well written bio, I jot down the name. Later, I may do a /getglobalname on it and then look for any arcs written by that person. It tends to give me better results than blindly searching.
"I do so love taking a nice, well thought out character and putting them through hell. It's like tossing a Faberge Egg onto the stage during a Gallagher concert." - me
@Palador / @Rabid Unicorn
It can be too hard to find a good arc, and I do like to solo so I can read everything. I know it's been said before.
I do have a trick that sometimes lands me good arcs to play, though. I play on Virtue mostly, and when I see a good looking character with a well written bio, I jot down the name. Later, I may do a /getglobalname on it and then look for any arcs written by that person. It tends to give me better results than blindly searching. |
For me, this one point is a non-issue. Any mission I run, whether "canon", radio, AE, or whatever is "real" for my characters.
Just because Paragon came up with an explanation to differentiate player-made vs. official canon doesn't mean that one can't ignore that explanation and still RP. The AE building is not a virtual reality, it is just another teleporter. ![]() |
Why don't I step foot in any AE missions, period?
Simple.
User-generated content sucks. Enough said.
If I wanted to deal with heavy-handed railroading, Mary Sue-ism, and grammar that would make every 2nd grade English teacher's head explode, I'd go read the crapton of fan-fic that's out there.
I play the missions done by the devs, because they're professionals.
I play the missions done by the devs, because they're professionals. |
While it's certainly true that the worst content in the game is found in AE, so is the best. The "professional" content is not very good and the good parts are all in the past. The quality has been trending the wrong way for a while now.
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"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
Also, I don't understand what constitutes "long" or "short" arcs. I kind of think it's the number of missions, but that's really not a good guide. One of my arcs used all the smallest maps -- the university basement one, a bank, a small warehouse -- yet it got autotagged "long" when I specifically designed it to be story-focused and short. Get in, experience the story, get out.
Missions: 4
Map Size: 2 small indoor, 2 large outdoor
Number of opponents: 125
...& etc.
The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction