I Sing The Praises of First Ward

warden_de_dios · 09-26-2011 08:48 PM

I came across at least two doors like this in southern First Ward. I hope future Praetorian mission require use to go to First Ward and use these doors for fun exciting missions.

The Crags are amazing, I'd love to see the rocks surrounding (and holding up) Talos get a graphics update to look more like the crags.

Neuronia · 09-26-2011 09:26 PM

Arcs are fantastic so far.
This is what the Dark Astoria arcs would have been like.

Questions about the game, either side? /t @Neuronia or @Neuronium, with your queries!
168760: A Death in the Gish. 3 missions, 1-14. Easy to solo.
Infinity Villains
Champion, Pinnacle, Virtue Heroes

Cass_ · 09-27-2011 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golden Girl

None of the arcs treat players as either of those things

Just because everyone treats you like a moron doesn't mean the rest of us are used to it.

I would go in to detail as to way but spoilers are mean.

The_Hegemon · 09-27-2011 04:54 AM

Going to drop my thoughts here, because the thread topic is relevant.

I haven't much enjoyed the new content added to this game since I18. I don't like Praetoria at all and couldn't care less about the Praetorian War global storyline, and I find the whole Incarnate Trial system impossible to enjoy.

First Ward is the first major content addition to the game that I've enjoyed without reservation since Going Rogue came out. I really dig this zone. It doesn't seem that great for teams because you have to do a lot of talking to NPCs, but for me, it's just fine. I like the look and feel a lot and am liking the storyline, as well.

So... kudos.

The Ballad of Iron Percy

Samuel_Tow · 09-27-2011 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hqnk

The Awakened should have Rikti/Arachnos/Longbow XP.

Playing through Katie Douglas and I wanted to share my favorite bits of internal dialogue:

"Whenever you want to make yourself feel better, Katie, come and get me...you will lose just like those several hundred Awakened lying on the ground behind me (Yay "Snooze Button" badge!).

And my latest one, "You can call me 'Killer' if I can call you Crazy A*** See You Next Tuesday."

EDIT: And for someone so lippy, she should at least not be made out of ghetto grade wet tissue paper.

You know what just occurred to me? A better analogy. I've compared Kathie to Black Scorpion, but it's not an exact match. Kathie is smart, whereas Black Scorpion is an idiot and a coward. I've compared her to Mender Tesseract, but Tesseract is just plain evil, whereas Kathie still has a heart, even if she only has heard for her cardboard cutout motivation of "Stop the seer network AGAIN!" No, no, you know who she REALLY is like?

Jim Temblor, AKA Faultline. Actually, look at Kathie sometime and you'll notice she's essentially a bargain basement Faultline from when you first meet the guy. She has the pants, she has the jacket, and she has the "angry young man" description that Jim has when you meet him down pat. "What do you want? I don't like you! You think I need help? I don't need your help! I'm ACTING!" Of course, Jim actually has a believable character and faces the reality of needing help, and eventually becomes a the good guy he was meant to be, whereas Kathie is stuck in that comic parody jerk mode perpetually. I wonder how the other Seers put up with her.

Actually, no! She isn't like Jim Temblor. You know who she really IS like? JANE Temblor, the Praetorian Faultline. The same foul mouth, the same perpetual moody crap, the same unprovoked bickering, the same pants and the same jacket.

Kathie Douglas
IS
Faultline!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville

Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Samuel_Tow · 09-27-2011 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yosomono

Am I the only person who found The Awakened to be a) ridiculously over-numerous and b) ridiculously overpowered? I'm all for more challenge, but I'm sure I died more in those missions (with help no less) than I did in all the previous years I've played this game...

I don't know. I think it depends on the character you bring. I fought them with an Axe/Shield Scrapper, and while they were definitely nasty, I didn't really have that big of a problem with them, at least no more so than against any psi-heavy enemies like the basic Seers. Hit Build Up, kill as many minions as fast as you can so they don't slow you down into the stone age and go from there.

I have heard, however, that non-melee ATs have great problems with them. A friend of might spent quite a while dying to a squid-head lady with his Defender a few days ago and eventually gave up, declaring it impossible. Something about being constantly confused, I believe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville

Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Fluct · 09-27-2011 05:09 AM

About half way through the zone at the moment and enjoying the storyline. Not found anything particularly difficult (elec/regen brute with difficulty upped) but can definitely see how it'll be hard for certain AT/set combo's.

As someone who hasn't played through the Praetorian storyline I find some of the assumptions a little confusing, would have been nice for alternate dialog for primal characters to set the backstory. However I can understand why they never did that.

A few too many 'fedex' style missions but on the whole an entertaining zone, looking forward to the second half

Didn't care much for Kathie Douglas, found her to be very annoying and generally not someone I'd want to work for as a hero.

Mr_Samoa · 09-27-2011 06:10 AM

I finished First Ward last night (did it in 4.4 levels, but I soloed it all so I'm glad they upped the range to 29). I gotta say, I'm really impressed. It's very very cool to, over 30 levels, meet characters and see how they grow and develop. I think they're gonna do the same thing with Twinshot and the Shining Stars, and this continuation of personal relationships is very fun to me... but it does make a lot of assumptions about what kind of person you are. Personally, I love Noble Savage. I think he's really cool and when I thought he was going to his death, it affected me- but it needn't have affected my character.

The other thing is that this is a *really* weird zone to drop Primals into. I don't really understand why random Primals, and not "graduated Preatorians" (those who had left after 20) were contacted and brought here. Sure you don't *need* to know the 1-20 stories of the characters, but it helps. They talk about the history of Praetoria like you'd know it. Most of all, it is REALLY dark. Here's an example: My character was a Primal, heroic, and went in there with the best intentions to help the Praetorians who needed him. Once there, he was forced to kill or manipulate his friends or watch them die and it was surprisingly dark! Once he got out of there, I got him into a much darker costume and turned him into a Vigilante because of all the horrible things he'd been forced to endure. He now had the mindset of "kill or be killed" and was willing to sacrifice the lives of some for the good of many. The initial idea of Going Rogue was choice and I didn't see much of it here. I'd have loved to see multiple paths to take (and I do appreciate the extra work this takes, but bear with me) that culminated in easier or harder fights based on your choices. For example, if I hadn't sent Noble Savage on his suicidal distraction, Marauder would have been right on top of me and I would have had a much tighter timer in that mission to get the loot and get out. The mission *felt* rushed, but I could actually take all the time I needed. No distraction, slap a timer on there and tell me to run like a scared rabbit. I would like to experience heroic content without turning into a bad person.