I Sing The Praises of First Ward

The Final boss at the end has an attack that uses Fire sword and Ice sword, that is so unfair I wanna dual wield elemental weapons!

Also god help the squishies that get hit with that attack, it on my brute I don't want to think what it would do to someone without resists and a big HP pool.

I really loved all the content in this zone. As dark as it was at the end, and as depressed as it made me doing certain actions, the story tied together fairly well - although I do wish more had been done with the compound later on, as it felt like you helped it out and then never really returned or followed up on it.

I DO wish that the zone was 30-39 though. For one, I think it was intended to be done after leaving Praetoria. I stayed and ran all the arcs before leaving through the rift enclosure, and the people who showed up at the end didn't reflect anything that happened in First Ward (I ran as a Resistance Warden).

Currently working my way through this, and loving every minute of it. There's some remarkably innovative, intriguing, powerful and sad things going on here, and some brilliant characters.

Caution, potential spoilers below

I just did the mission that takes place near the Magesterium, and had, in quick succession, one of the funniest and one of the tensest and most scary experiences I've had so far in CoH.

*I* want to know what happened to Katie Douglas / Seer 1381. Plugging her back into the Network CREEPED ME OUT BIG TIME ... and then, she's used and discarded without so much as a backwards glance!

It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...

I was affected by the forum login issue, so now it's resolved I'd just like to say that I, too, love this zone. I've had great fun playing the new stories and I love both the structure and pace of them, as well as the terrific sense of a very interesting place.

Also I love pretty much everything else that's happened with Freedom, but I don't want to gush too much. The new character creator is really user friendly and looks miles better; the new tutorial was pretty cool, the follow up missions were a fun way to get started, providing a much more polished introduction to the game, and I'm really pleased to see the great MMO tech involved in all of that. Death From Below is really entertaining, and I love the Barbarian costume set. Really solid update all around.

I'm only up to Savage's missions, so I haven't seen all of it yet... But so far, I love this zone. (And Whisper, my stabby little claws stalker, wants to take Candlestick back home to Peregrine Island with her. He and Savage were great fun to chase around Resistance goons with. Very Set/Spike. )

I find Midnight Master to be pretty off-putting and the one part of the arc that I really didn't enjoy. I really enjoyed the first half of the zone though and it is nice to see magic is still very present in Praetoria.

*** SPOILERS ***

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redlynne *I* want to know what happened to Katie Douglas / Seer 1381. Plugging her back into the Network CREEPED ME OUT BIG TIME ... and then, she's used and discarded without so much as a backwards glance!

I second this. I found the idea of leaving her like that deeply unsatisfying. That said, I love the new content. And I suppose the fact I feel as strongly as I do about Katie speaks for itself. Even if she did keep calling me "killer".

Good job, Devs!

I love First Ward, love Serene's teleport animation.

Though it can't be helped that there's a lot of sadness in these stories...

I generally like magic-themed stories, so I enjoyed First Ward. Most of the factions were quite entertaining, particularly the Talons, and there were cameo appearances by many of my favorite villains and other supporting characters (Hamidon via the seed, Diabolique, Mother Mayhem being even meaner and crazier than usual, Noble Savage, and [apparently] the legendary, not the CoH, Furies, plus a fun reminder to the players singing "We Shall Overcome" with Calvin Scott that he is a murderous fiend). Indeed, my only major criticism is that too much time is spent fighting Apparitions, which are a bit confusing story-wise and also tend to hurt my eyes.

I'm also a bit disappointed that I have to play an incarnate trial to get closure on the story, not so much because I'm not a big trial fan but because I don't want to have share what should be a character-centric experience with 23 of my closest friends.

Quick questions:

Is this availible via Oro for my 50s?

If not then I guess I need a real level 20-23? to start the missions right?

If I try with anything above 29 you get the to high level right?

I'm rather hoping that Katie's situation is a cliff-hanger, pointing to further content. A 30-40 zone, based on busting up the Asylum? Another mystery to solve? And what of our blind friend - is he still squatting in a swamp? How is Noble Savage holding up, after that... mission?? And Katie....!! (Am trying to be a little vague for anyone who hasn't finished it yet)

I loved this arc - I was actually sad when it was over. I couldn't wait to get back on my little level 28 villain and solo all this new stuff. It was alternately funny, witty, heartbreaking. Master Midnight had me literally laughing out loud. And the whole thing kept me guessing, which I appreciate a lot. There was nothing in the arc that had a "canned" feel to it, or like I knew what the inevitable outcome was going to be.

A small thing I found a little irritating: I kept having to run across the zone to talk to someone, and come back again to get a mission that takes me - guess where? Back where I just was. This is particularly annoying when I had the phone number of each one of them! It's not a huge deal, but it just makes no sense, you know? I hope this part won't be included in the 30-40 content I am going to BEG them to do!

This zone is just too good to be wasted on a single arc! Please do more! Please? Pretty please?

I hope not. The story has less impact when it's told via trial, IMO.

Wow.

Just... wow.

I am so very pleased to hear such awesome feedback from you guys. Our team worked very hard on First Ward and reading this is another reminder why I love my job. A lot of people had their hands in First Ward, from initial inception back when we started planning out Praetoria, all the way to the environmental details, new powers, and music for the cut scenes.

I think I speak for everyone who worked on First Ward when I say that there is no need to thank us. For me, at least, it was more than a pleasure to build such a fun and engaging zone and write such entertaining stories and characters. And this feedback just reinforces that a thousand times. Thank you!

Keep this feedback coming, I am particularly interested to hear where you guys think the story should be going from here.

-Protean

Everyone who touched the first ward needs a raise.

This zone is so consistent, so well told, so beautiful and so rich that I can't believe this is the same game where I used to kill skuls.

That this all goes on while the Seed of Hamidon groans overhead menacingly amongst such well-realised destruction makes this the best content I've seen in an MMO.

(FPARN)

Oh, and that raise is contingent on Katie Douglas cropping up in a later arc. You must do this. UNDER PAIN OF DEATH.

Mommy Mayhem's hospital reminds me of a certain school for Gifted Youngsters in Weschester County...

That alone makes this my favorite zone in the game =)