Feedback: "Who Will Die?" Part 1

There's already a little discussion about the first part of the first Signature Story scattered across a couple of threads, but no consolidated place for discussion and feedback. So here we are! And for those not aware: the arc went live both in the Paragon Market and in-game at about midnight Pacific time. I've so far run the villain version.

An initial problem is that, while you do get a pop-up box introducing you to the contact, the contact does not have a waypoint on the actual map. It took me going to the wiki and a post from Warden De Dios to find Alastar, the ghostly contact in Cap Au Diable. Another issue is that one of the mission minimaps doesn't properly align, but it's not a big thing.

The arc itself operates like an Ouroboros Arc, complete with optional challenge settings. This first arc auto-exemplars players to level 20 if they're beyond that.

Without getting into spoilers too much, I do like the inclusion of Pumicites as one of the enemy groups you face. They have a neat aesthetic and don't get nearly as much face time as they should. They're a logical choice to explain how things go from point A to point B within the arc. They also provide an in-game reason for the AWESOME new lava-flooded Orenbaga maps (as well as the fantastic final map) to exist. The story itself is alright. Not "blow you out of the water incredible", but this is just the first of seven parts to this story; it's meant to establish things.

Speaking of the final map: part of me wonders if this is a pretty big hint about the next zone to be redone.

There are markers for them on the map, they're contact icons. (General directions: at the cop shop in Skyway City, on the boardwalk east of the south ferry in Cap au Diable.)

The hero-side arc makes good use of, and writes nice in-character dialog for, a villain group that really needed a story arc like this, to show off their motivation and what it's like to be them. I approve. (Some will claim continuity error: I can only assume, however, that all this really means is that since this arc caps at 20 and Darrin Wade's arc is level 20-29, Darrin Wade's arc post-dates this one.)

Have we established what the minimum level is?

Players should probably be warned that both arcs end in an elite boss -- although it's a fairly weenie elite boss.

Useful observation: if you run both arcs with a rogue or vigilante incarnate, you can take the astral merit reward for both of them.

The last map on both arcs is no more a clue to which zone is going to be remade than the maps in the Apex and Tin Mage task forces are. This is not a game where the story alters the gameworld, not all that often anyway.

My final thought was: what is Penn Jilette doing in these arcs, and why is he hanging out at the Monkey Fight Club in Sharkhead?

There's a marker for the contact Hero Side, but it's using the same icon as Mynx is in Skyway (ie Trainer) so you probably ignored it.

I really enjoyed and like the first part and it did a great job in setting up part 2 and making it already seem worthy of being a 7 part arc.

The unique arcs were well designed and i in particular enjoyed the final hollows arc map. The only downfall about the hollows map was that the lava seemed to have a "wall" effect going up which i wasnt sure if it was to guide the player to the finale or was a glitch.

On my first run with no idea what to expect i died 3 times, mostly due to the insane ambushes in the second mission. I can see being in a team that being handled quite well, but solo i stood no chance on my corruptor.

Verdict: Great maps and setup but ambush needs to be toned down slightly.

Looking forward to part 2!

I got caught out by forgetting to turn my difficulty down due to being exemped, and getting to the exit on the first map only to find out it didn't work, with no other exit I could spot.

If I knew how to hide text for spoilers I'd say where the exit was.

What I WILL say that is while the heroside arc was okay, the VILLAIN arc was... villain-tastic. It's broadly the same story, but... y'know, just go run it. Then you'll know what I'm talking about.

I haven't felt that villainous in this game for a long time.

I also had to come to this thread to find the Paragon City Contact, after getting the popup and then not finding the Contact under my Active or Inactve Tabs. Nor was it available under Find Contact.

Word on the Street is that the minimum level is 11.

1. As I mentioned in another thread, the task force difficulty lockout (ignores -1 level and no bosses settings) is in effect for the story arc. Is this WAI?

2. On my rogue, I was able to run the villain and hero arcs back-to-back and got the full reward table, with only the alignment merits unavailable for both. Again, is this WAI?

I won't be able to get in game until Wednesday some time. Is there a listing somewhere of what the potential rewards are? I remember reading *something* that said you were limited to once per week per character?

The arc has been released? I never knew

*) Started new "Who WIll Die" TF.
*) 2/3s of my powers disappeared.
*) Quit TF

I really want to know who's doing the unseen moustache twirling in the cutscene

Yeah, that was odd.

or we just been doing them for 7 years and tire of them...

I thought the arc was great fun, ran it a few times on blueside with a team and then ran it solo in about 20 minutes. Was pretty cool to get in the arc within the first minutes it went live


But the maps were fun, loved that they had something more for the idigeous and it was a great story. Makes me wonder who was hiding in the movie part


Oh and to the guy who quit after losing 2/3 of their powers? Really? Really? lol

Just finished the hero-side arc. Couldn't find the exit in the first mish either, so I did the cheater-exit through Ouroboros.

I agree with earlier posters that the new maps are cool, and that the glimpse into the motivations of the Lost is a good read.

But aside from these things, I'm left to wonder, "Umm, just how much is this little bit of content supposed to be worth?"

I mean obviously at this point we're all VIP and get the content as a subscriber perk, but I can't see paying money for an arc consisting of three missions. That may be a concern for freemium customers.

The end reward is perhaps intended to justify this cost (choice of alignment, reward, or astral merits; the arc can be done in 5 minutes), but I just don't see it. Gating monty haul rewards behind insufficient content in order to sell paragon points doesn't seem like good game design.

With all that said, it was a fun few missions, and I enjoyed playing them.

Just finished it. <spoilers>

...Before I get to the spoilers, let me say one thing.

Devs, please engineer it so that we as players get to choose/determine "who will die". If these monthly missions are our way of participating in the evolving story of the game, please let us actually do so.

Maybe the number of times each mission is run for each member of the Phalanx is significant. Maybe in the penultimate mission, we choose via a dialog entry and the aftermath is played out in the final mission. Maybe we vote/poll on the boards. Whatever; please allow us to do something (preferably in-game) that directs/diverts the story, even if it is just a matter of which Trainer is standing where.

...for bonus points, it could tie into the 'You are experiencing the world created by your deeds' tech...








...and now the spoilers.

As a 'Not the team leader' person on this mission, I felt a little Lost (heh) near the beginning: A CoT mage is trying to steal Synapse's power and give it to the Igneous? The Lost are involved? Someone flooded the Hollows with lava?

The final (mysterious) cut scene (perhaps un'bombable' since it apparently takes place distant from the action) and the text narration was greatly appreciated and helped give a sense of story.

Due to the comic splash page with the 'enter mission' button I was hoping for a page of intro/explanation (Is that possible, Mr. Nakayama? A page of comic between each mission with a recap/preview would be a great way to set these missions apart). That would have helped a lot.

The missions were fun and quick, with a few cool mechanics and timers.

I would say that so far this mission is above average but short of exceptional, and quite fun. Thumbs up!

The heroside arc is quite muddy and unfocused, and only the ending cutscene saves it. The villainside arc is all kinds of neat. There's a thing you do at the end which I'm STILL grinning over.