Swing and miss... which story arcs are most in need of revamp or outright removal?

This is the companion thread to my "Which story arcs/missions do you find most emotionally engaging?" thread...

Here, we're going to find out which ones people think just outright SUCK (in terms of writing). Just because I'm sadistically curious to see which ones top the list (and why). I'm not talking about "give it a few more varied maps" or "it's in the wrong zone"... I'm talking the writing just makes you cringe, it violates more grammatical rules than we have contacts in the game, etc.

We've got two categories here - the ones that can be redeemed with some work, and the ones that are... well... just beyond the pale.

Make sure you explain WHY - not just "I think it sucks."

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

The first one off the top of my head? Number 204 in GV. That ending is the worst kind of Duex Ex Machina imaginable. Just the last mission/ending of the arc needs reworking, it is just bad writing.

I think a good chunk of the original story arcs blueside need at least a revamp.

Ubelmann the Unknown I remember being especially boring outside of the souvenir at the end.

Black Scorpion's patron arc.

"BLARGH, KILL THE GUY WHO HAS SOME ARMOR LIKE ME! BLARGH, BLOW UP GHOST WIDOW'S CRAP! BLARGH, KIDNAP DOCTOR AEON (BECAUSE THAT WON'T CAUSE ANY MAJOR PROBLEMS WITHIN ARACHNOS FOR SOME RESON)! USE THIS GHOST RIFLE!

.... Sorry Arbiter Daos! Won't happen again!"

In fact, it'd be really nice if, for all the patron arcs, it was Recluse slapping his minions around rather than Arbiter Daos babysitting them.

Dr Graves arc.

Biggest heap of railroading gobshite...

That's the only one I can think of off the top of my head...but the list is long.
I'll get back to you...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

One more thing...

Unai Kemen should be Nuked from orbit- it's the only way to be sure.

(I did his arc ONCE, never ever again, I'd rather solo Dr. Q 5 times in a row 1st....)

Obviously, a lot of the older arcs need to be streamlined and have their fat trimmed. I'm reminded by of one arc (I think Angus McQueen's), where you get sent to take out a Rikti base, which is actually a Council base completely unrelated to anything, but go ahead and take them all out while you're here.

The other problem, particularly with the old hero arcs, and particularly at the lower levels, is that the contacts themselves are banal. Arcs like Ubelmann, which was mentioned above, are great in concept, but less so in execution, just because they have to be written in a way that one of the people involved can be one of around five completely unique individuals. Streamlining the contact system and adding in a little more personal flavor would be nice. Even when arcs are given out by unique contacts, some of them are just...written boring. Maxwell Christopher is a notable exception, but Tina and Unai, for example, just sorta read like briefings, not like characters.

On the other side of things, an arc I'd like to see get revamped, especially given that the Devs are working on low level content, would be Mr. Bocor's. I love him for his snappy dialogue, but always felt like his arc was kind of aimless. There's...a book. And Bocor wants it, but it's not really explained why (other than vague nefarious purposes) or what it does, and it ties into a plot thread that has long since been abandoned. Keep Bocor's great character, but maybe redo it a bit so that it's a little more clear and that it ties more into the current state of the game lore.

Finally, to note that even more recent stuff is not immune to having problems, Roy Cooling really did not work well. Good in concept, but the big "twist" really wasn't handled well, not to mention the general disregard for the lore behind the various villain groups involved. What's worse is that they only need a minor change in story (basically, altering a single one of the groups), and the arc would make almost perfect sense.

No contest: Dr. Graves.

In nearly seven years playing I have never quit an arc midway because it was so bad.

Dr. Graves has changed all that.

I am willing to watch his story arc sit there and rot for eternity if it means not having to interact with the stupidity again. Badges? Merits? I don't care if it rewards rainbows and puppies, I'm not finishing it and I'm never re-playing it.

Bad characters, bad writing, bad editing, insulting assumptions, railroading dialog trees, misplaced mob markers- if there's something that can be wrong with an arc, Graves has it. I would cheerfully do any of the Shardow Shard TFs before running Graves again.

I would say the the first arc of the Hollows (it just ends so suddenly and they are basically just a few random missions...) and Flux's arc till the last mission. Maybe it's because I played them a lot but for me it feels a bit like doing some random missions until a counter decides you have done enough to go against FrostFire.

I don't say they suck but they could use a revamp...

But just the standard contacts on blue side could use a revamp...especially the first few.

Most of the VEAT arcs past, oh, 20 or so. It'd be great if they'd branch out with your (original) choice - so Fortunatas get a Fortunata-themed arc, Spiders get that, Banes get Bane-centered information, etc. Instead of the rushed garbage ending with "Um, go listen to Statesman's odd metagame speech then beat him up for giving it."

Agree with Number 204... one of the few unlocks I don't bother going back TO unlock again, or miss unlocking.

Agent ... I can never think of his name, the "partially Riktified" agent blueside, I believe, needs an update.

Dr. Q's task force.

See my Guides and Tutorials

Big fan of the Terra conspiracy. Think it's a great story but plays as one of the worst mission arcs in the legacy content.

All the blueside Tsoo missions. The Tsoo are IMHO the best villian group in the game and all the legacy stories are boring, dull and painful to run.

Most of the one's I'd list are already here: Graves, BS, VEATS (who barely even have an arc).

I'd add the end of Vivacious Verandi to the list to be revamped. Her arc starts off strong and then ends horribly. Hardcase is such a massive tool and his "restore the status quo" threats are stupid.

Sister Airlia needs a rewrite in order to give her a motivation. I dare anyone to figure out what her motive is in her first arc.
Her arc is literally:

1. Steal the tablet to give to Ghost Widow
2. ???????
3. Profit

All of the Freedom Phalanx TFs, save the (thankfully) updated Positron TF, are pretty awkward in delivery and extremely painful to run mechanically, especially Synapse. Who in their right mind decided to make an entire (extremely long) low level TF out of nothing but villains that drain endurance? Agh!

I24 Proc Chance = (Enhanced Recharge + Activation Time) * (Current PPM * 1.25) / 60*(1 + .75*(.15*Radius - 0.011*Radius*(360-Arc)/30))
Single Target Radius = 0. AoE Non-Cone Arc = 360.

Where
do I
begin?

Hideous writing

Roy Cooling: This story arc is a mess beyond description. It feels like someone's stream of consciousness put to digital text with missions drawn up around it. It makes no sense, it gives no context, it explains nothing and it makes no sense. Also, it makes no sense. The writing is rife with spelling and grammatical errors, and not just from Roy himself, the plot is a disjointed sequence of events which falls apart when you think about it and it's the exact same godawful boring "stolen item" plot in every story ever told. Item (or schematics, or data, we're not sure) gets stolen, thieves get played for fools, someone gets kidnapped, hostage exchange. It's a by-the-numbers story that still somehow manages to fail at absolutely every level.

Dr. Greaves arcs 1 and 2: Biggest mess of railroading nonsense in the game by FAAAR. This arc commits the cardinal sin of putting words in my character's mouth which are also incredibly stupid, making me feel like a knuckle-dragging idiot. You don't write stories like this in a game where people make their own characters. You simply do not. If words must be put in characters' names, then options must be given. This storyline commits more travesties against player characters than I can count. And it's written VERY sloppy, to boot. I quoted a random text for unrelated reasons out of one text box, and it ended up having a "viscous stare" in it completely by accident. It's rife with typos and suspect grammar, and it is NOT written as a story arc should.

Crimes against canon

The Origin of Powers: Never in my life have I seen such an amazing fictional universe so thoroughly disembowelled by a horrible idea. The Origin of Powers' entire storyline takes what is a very open, very varied world and not only clenches it by the throat, suffocating all creativity that ever existed, but it uses deus ex machina to reduce EVERYTHING EVER down to a single plot point. This is a crime against fiction so bad I don't think I have an apt metaphor to describe it, though I'm sure if I actually read comic books, I might. DC's Countdown comes to mind as a comparison, though.

Mercedes Sheldon: Specifically her final arc. The Warriors, as such, were originally intended to be a modern-day street gang who sought to replicate the Greek ways in search for honour and glory, essentially. They accepted their ideals, but still adapted them to modern gang warfare. Mercedes Sheldon takes what is an otherwise conventional gang and has then re-enact the Iliad for no real reason. Alexander "The Great" Pavlidis was an ordinary, sane man who simply borrowed the name of a great (Macedonian) ruler as his moniker. He didn't believe he WAS Alexander the Great.

Godawful BORING

Unai Kemen: To clear a thousand outdoor instances is the game's single worst, most boring arc by a wide margin, and I say this with no hyperbole. Unai's entire arc is one case of "Your princess is in another castle!" after another. Oh, are the scientists in this dimension? No. Are they perhaps in THIS dimension? No. Are they in this one here? Yes! But only half of them. Are their other halves in this dimension? No. And so on and so on and so ******* on! This whole arc is a time sink, nothing more. They had enough plot for precisely three missions, and they stretched it out to 23. Argh!

Dr. Quaterfield: If Unai Kemen has the game's most boring arc, Dr. Quaterfield has the game's most boring TF. Go to ParagonWiki and read the souvenir. "You cleared the first base. Then you cleared the second base. The, finally, you cleared the third base." This entire TF has no plot. At all. It doesn't even have a setting. Here, I'll spoil the whole "story" for you: Crey have an inter-dimensional portal. Full stop. This did not deserve to be a 20+ mission long marathon of utter boredom.

Harvey Maylor: His arc is a horrible, boring, repetitive, pointless arc. It has no right to be even half as long as it is, yet it wastes my time by sending me on pointless missions. "Go to the spirit world!" the game says, and I go. I find nothing, and I'm told "Oh, you found nothing. Guess that trip was a waste of time." Ya think?!? Half the arc consists of going to the Spirit world fifteen god damn times, each time getting one more clue as to Vanessa's past, all of which could have been condensed into a single mission, or two missions at most, saving me the time and pain of repeating essentially the same two instances ten times over.

Idiot ball bonanza:

Kelly Uqua: Christ almighty, this arc treats both me like I failed my IQ test. Kelly Uqua is a Rikti spy by the name of Kel'Uqua. I'm not spoiling anything, that's obvious pretty much from the word go. And yet I have to spend the entire arc scratching my head like a knuckle-dragging idiot trying to figure out why the woman who looks like a Rikti, acts like a Rikti, cavorts with Rikti and is said to be a Rikti spy by no less than two separate people seems suspicious. If I end the final mission, I never even suspect. If, on the other hand, I fail the final mission and the Ballista's message goes through, I begin to suspect that maybe, just maybe, there was something wrong, but I don't know where. Because I have the IQ of a box of hammers.

Dr. Graves second arc: "Mental time bomb" is all I have to say. The game has me act like a complete idiot, it has Dollface, Dean John ******* Yu and even Dr. Graves make fun of me, all while I don't even realise I'm being mocked. I'm not a smart guy in real life and I still found that offensive to my intelligence. It's not funny, it's just degrading. To me, personally, let alone to my character.

Continuity snarls

Tina McIntyre: In her arc, Vanessa DeVore makes an appearance. I appear to know full well that Vanessa DeVore is the leader of the Carnival of Shadows, and she appears to make no effort to hide her identity. That's a 40-45 arc that I tend to play around 41-42. Then at level 46-47, I take on Harvey Maylor's arc (levels 45-50), where his very first mission has me invited to a party by Vanessa DeVore, who everyone knows as this famous socialite that I'm there to rescue. Apparently, neither I nor Harvey know that Vanessa is the leader of the Carnival, in the level range AFTER she is played as an obvious villain. So which is it?

Maria Jenkins: Meeting several of the recurring Praetorians in that arc causes them to react like they know me, Marauder saying "I won't lose to you again!" or something to this effect. This presumes that I have played Tina McIntyre's arc which... I actually haven't on nearly every character I took through Maria's new arc. Why? Because Tina's arc is 40-45, and the characters I took through Maria's arc were 50 before their arcs were renovated.

Angus McQueen: Most of his entire arc, the man spends his time trying to prevent the second Rikti Invasion, apparently blissfully unaware that the second Rikti invasion is already taking place in the Rikti War Zone. His arc is still good - one of the best around, in fact - but it makes no sense within continuity.

Out of character characters:

Anything to do with the Rikti War Zone: The Rikti don't "talk." They have no mouths. They communicate with each other telepatically. What they say isn't just funny speech or a "translator," it's simply the best we can comprehend of their speechless thoughts. Once upon a time, the Rikti never spoke. EVER. One particular mission even specifically states how the Freakshow fight with taunts and insults but the Rikti fight in complete silence. But apparently, because "Rikti talk" is funny, the writers decided to give them sitcom-style dialogue, and now they blather absurdities all the time in all of their arcs. Because it's funny.

Malta in paper missions: Malta are supposed to be a clandestine, secret conspiracy which rules the world behind the scenes. They are the Illuminati, they are are the Knight's Templar, they are the New World Order. No-one knows they exist, and when they act, no-one believes it was them who did it. And then Stupid-Fool-1-0-1 challenges me to a duel in the local paper. Smooth move, guys. Smooth!

---

That's all I can think of at the moment, but there are more.

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.

Angus McQueen: Its a good arc... just needs to be more update and be more about the connection between the lost, the mu, and the rikti magus. That part of the arc is awesome, once you move onto stopping the invasion the arc falls apart in my opinion. It no longer needs to deal with stopping an invastion but can be used to really link The Lost and The Rikti as well as the Rikti's ability to start learning to use magic and how they went about learning it and the friendships that got torn apart along the way. That is the true meat of this arc and that's the story that characters become emotionally invested in.

Indigo: I ran this a long time ago, I ran it again a few weeks back. That caused me to remember WHY I hadn't run this arc in a long time (like precov long) It needs a rewrite badly. It needs to not involve crimson every other mission, I'm running an arc for Indigo not for Crimson, if she goes to him it should be for something REALLY HUGE. You just stop paying attention to what is going on after a while and forget the point of the arc while you are doing crimson's little filler mini arc contained within the arc and you come to understand what a dick Crimson really is and its no wonder that Indigo is located in another zone just to get the heck away from that guy.

Crimson: Its just a really REALLY long arc and could/should be chopped down and retold. Its so long that you stop caring about the overall plot of the arc after four or five missions.

Additional thoughts... Try to keep the arcs more in contact zone contained unless as part of the arc the characters need to go to a specific zone for a specific purpose. Like you can't stop someone from blowing up a Bridge in IP while taking the mission in Atlas park. But if you are going to generic baddies hideout looking the for the clues that continues the storyarc that mission doesn't need to be on the far end of Eden when you are in PI.

Arcs that should be nuked from orbit:

Origin of Power. It's a lot of running around just to find out that your character concept is now secondary to what will eventually become the puddle of annoyance.

Roy Cooling's arc. For reasons that have already been stated multiple times.

Vincent Ross's arc. The puddle of annoyance rears its annoying head again. Also has you messing with things you really shouldn't be even thinking about messing with at level 20-30. It works out in the end (sort of. Temporarily. Unless you're trying for the Legacy Chain gladiator, in which case it works out swimmingly) but really, you're taking a huge risk on an embittered ex-Legacy Chain member's say-so.

Arcs that could stand a revamp, but only if the revamp actually keeps the story intact instead of "improving" on it:

Pretty much all the pre-i3 arcs are longer than they need to be.

Anything that has "speak to Arbiter Daos" in it, where speaking to Arbiter Daos is the reason your character does something because Arachnos says so, even if it's something you wouldn't do unless Arachnos said so, or it's something you could figure out for yourself.

Dr. Q's TF and Justin Augustine's TF. But considering the text on the explore badges there, I think they should just leave the Shadow Shard alone.

The ITF. If there was ever an opportunity to expand on and tie up the Path of the Dark storyline, that was it. But instead we get a bunch of nonsense with a bunch of Roman versions of modern-day characters that isn't relevant to anything but itself and what will eventually become the puddle of annoyance. The reason I don't include it in the "nuke from orbit" section is because the gameplay is fun.