Signature Story Rewards: How do they work?
By
Aggelakis,
Posted on: 2012-02-07 24:17 in Player Questions
Quote:
Make absolutely sure it's the same character. If it is, then send in a Customer Service ticket to get the Hero Merits due you and so they know this bug exists.
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Originally Posted by Derangedpolygot
Yesterday I took a character I'd never taken on the SSA, and did parts one through three. For each part I took a Hero Merit.
Today I took the same character to do parts four and five. For Four, the Hero merit was locked out citing that I couldn't take it for a repeated run(despite not having done it before), so I took 10 incarnate threads. Part five wouldn't allow the Hero Merit or threads. Why does it lock out rewards for episode you've never done one day, but allows it the day before? There doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason why the rewards lock out. |
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Definitely the same character.|
Originally Posted by Zombie Man
Make absolutely sure it's the same character. If it is, then send in a Customer Service ticket to get the Hero Merits due you and so they know this bug exists.
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A friend of mine had a character logged out for 18 days, but the Hero Merits were locked out after part one. Threads also with part 2; the Astral for 3; the 4x merits for part 4. Part five, he just logged out the character with the fully locked out rewards table up.
The plastic tips at the end of shoelaces are called aglets. Their true purpose is sinister.
--The Question, JLU
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This sounds perfectly correct to me.|
Originally Posted by Derangedpolygot
A friend of mine had a character logged out for 18 days, but the Hero Merits were locked out after part one. Threads also with part 2; the Astral for 3; the 4x merits for part 4. Part five, he just logged out the character with the fully locked out rewards table up.
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It doesn't matter how long you're logged out, you can only claim each reward once per week TOTAL - NOT once per arc.
You only get the reward once per arc for the first run ever on each character.
@Roderick
SSA rewards are supposed to work as follows :
First run on a particular part for that character : Any eligible option.
Second run on a part : shared timer amongst all SSA parts.
So it's acting like some of those (4, 5, and one other) we're already run once before on that character.
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The first time you play an SSA, you get one freebie reward for every separate episode. Then you can play any of the SSAs and get one extra choice of that reward, once per week.|
Originally Posted by Roderick
This sounds perfectly correct to me.
It doesn't matter how long you're logged out, you can only claim each reward once per week TOTAL - NOT once per arc. You only get the reward once per arc for the first run ever on each character. |
So since we have parts 1-5, you should be able to get 6 of one reward (e.g. 6 alignment merits) in one day (or whatever length of time it takes you to complete them). Part 1 freebie, part 2 freebie, part 3 freebie, part 4 freebie, part 5 freebie, weekly reward.
Obligatory wiki link: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Signature_Story_Arc
Paragon Wiki: http://www.paragonwiki.com
City Info Terminal: http://cit.cohtitan.com
Mids Hero Designer: http://www.cohplanner.com
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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That's what I said, Agge. I was talking about the anecdote that I quoted, not the one in the OP.
@Roderick
Ah.
However, the anecdote didn't say whether or not the person had already played those episodes before so your statement could still be wrong. 
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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Thank you for the more detailed explanation of what the wiki says, Aggelakis. Having never run any of the SSAs, I was a bit confused by the Free Reward Choice concept.
I'm still confused by this part, however:
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Can anyone elaborate on what this means? It kind of sounds like an exploit that would allow you to continue choosing your favorite reward even after the timer should have locked it.
| NOTE: There is no location or status window that keeps track of the reward timer; if a character runs a Signature Story Arc within the reward timer, they cannot choose any reward that has been obtained in the last seven days. However, leaving the reward choice window open without making a decision until the reward timer expires allows a character to choose their preferred reward again. |
(Sometimes, I wish there could be a Dev thumbs up button for quality posts, because you pretty much nailed it.) -- Ghost Falcon
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It's just how the reward window works. It's worked like this since they implemented it (way back when we could select SOs for completing a story arc). If you don't select anything and log out, it will still be open when you come back. However, it doesn't alter WHEN you can select something.|
Originally Posted by mousedroid
Can anyone elaborate on what this means? It kind of sounds like an exploit that would allow you to continue choosing your favorite reward even after the timer should have locked it.
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You can do an SSA on Monday at 8pm and get your weekly alignment merit.
You can then do the SSA anytime during the next seven days and leave the reward window open without choosing anything. When the timer expires at around Monday at 4-7pm (it's not exactly a week, but is only off by a few hours at the most), you can log in and get another reward.
Paragon Wiki: http://www.paragonwiki.com
City Info Terminal: http://cit.cohtitan.com
Mids Hero Designer: http://www.cohplanner.com
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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It means if you were to, say, do the arc, pick a hero merit, do it again and see the hero merit locked out, you could just leave the reward table open for the rest of the week. Once the lockout has expired (again, in a week) the hero merit option will become available again. Of course, once you pick it, if you run the arc again in under a week, and the table comes up at the end, hero merit will again be locked out (since you just picked it).
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Originally Posted by mousedroid
Thank you for the more detailed explanation of what the wiki says, Aggelakis. Having never run any of the SSAs, I was a bit confused by the Free Reward Choice concept.
I'm still confused by this part, however: Can anyone elaborate on what this means? It kind of sounds like an exploit that would allow you to continue choosing your favorite reward even after the timer should have locked it. |
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Signature_Story_Arc
I added a little clearer explanation of the freebie/weekly distinction (including example) and noted the reward window thing will reset the weekly timer. I'm not sure how to reword the reward window thing to make it sound like you can get more than one reward in a week, because I honestly can't see how he made that connection.
Paragon Wiki: http://www.paragonwiki.com
City Info Terminal: http://cit.cohtitan.com
Mids Hero Designer: http://www.cohplanner.com
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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So it's basically no different than just waiting a week to run the arc again if you want that same reward, right? Or am I still confused?|
Originally Posted by Coulomb2
It means if you were to, say, do the arc, pick a hero merit, do it again and see the hero merit locked out, you could just leave the reward table open for the rest of the week. Once the lockout has expired (again, in a week) the hero merit option will become available again. Of course, once you pick it, if you run the arc again in under a week, and the table comes up at the end, hero merit will again be locked out (since you just picked it).
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Also, are the Hero and Villain Arcs treated as separate things with regard to the Free Choice? For example, if you get your six Hero Merits per Aggelakis' example, cash them in, and then go through the switch to Villain alignment, can you get six Villain Merits or are your Free Choices all gone on that character?
(Sometimes, I wish there could be a Dev thumbs up button for quality posts, because you pretty much nailed it.) -- Ghost Falcon
IDK, this is just the kind of thing that needs to have a player visual timer in game. I remember there was a time when we had no visual indicators on badge progression. QOL.
The development team and this community deserved better than this from NC Soft. Best wishes on your search.
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Correct. You still have to wait a week to choose the reward, even if you leave the window open.|
Originally Posted by mousedroid
So it's basically no different than just waiting a week to run the arc again if you want that same reward, right? Or am I still confused?
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Quote:
| Also, are the Hero and Villain Arcs treated as separate things with regard to the Free Choice? For example, if you get your six Hero Merits per Aggelakis' example, cash them in, and then go through the switch to Villain alignment, can you get six Villain Merits or are your Free Choices all gone on that character? |
Paragon Wiki: http://www.paragonwiki.com
City Info Terminal: http://cit.cohtitan.com
Mids Hero Designer: http://www.cohplanner.com
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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Um... "No..." what?
No you can't get six Villain Merits, or no your Free Choices are not all gone (i.e. you can get six Villain Merits)?
(Sometimes, I wish there could be a Dev thumbs up button for quality posts, because you pretty much nailed it.) -- Ghost Falcon
No to your first question, the Hero and Villain arcs are not treated separately. Each EPISODE (which contains one hero and one villain arc) grants a freebie reward. And SSAs grant a weekly reward.
You can do hero part 1, villain part 2 and get two rewards (if you're not in the weekly limit). You can do hero part 1 for an alignment merit and villain part 1 for an astral merit, but not villain part 1 for an alignment merit until a week passes.
Paragon Wiki: http://www.paragonwiki.com
City Info Terminal: http://cit.cohtitan.com
Mids Hero Designer: http://www.cohplanner.com
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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It appears the reward system is badly bugged. It's not consistent to any of the examples you've all given.
The plastic tips at the end of shoelaces are called aglets. Their true purpose is sinister.
--The Question, JLU
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An in-game visible timer would be nice, but even better would be if the reward tables reset once a week (say at the same time the Weekly Strike Target changes.)
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Originally Posted by Darth_Khasei
IDK, this is just the kind of thing that needs to have a player visual timer in game. I remember there was a time when we had no visual indicators on badge progression. QOL.
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_________
@Inquisitor
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It's worked perfectly for me so far. And I use a spreadsheet to track reward eligibility for the 32 characters I run through the SSA's.
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Originally Posted by Derangedpolygot
It appears the reward system is badly bugged. It's not consistent to any of the examples you've all given.
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The Mentor Project
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I demand a lazier way of keeping track!
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Originally Posted by Ironblade
And I use a spreadsheet to track reward eligibility for the 32 characters I run through the SSA's.
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_________
@Inquisitor
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I think this points to the reason to some degree this kind of thing has moved beyond the QOL area into the same area that prompted them to include some visual badge progression options.|
Originally Posted by Ironblade
It's worked perfectly for me so far. And I use a spreadsheet to track reward eligibility for the 32 characters I run through the SSA's.
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The fact that we have so many toons and the need for a spreadsheet to track them says it all IMHO.
The development team and this community deserved better than this from NC Soft. Best wishes on your search.
I agree, and I can tell you what they should do to fix it and where they should put it. One of the Info tabs is for PvP and it includes a timer section. They should just add another tab for all reward timers:
- weekly strike target
- signature story arc
- individual task forces
- iTrial empyrean merits
etc.
If you run a signature arc, a WST, one other task force and two different iTrials in a day, your listing will display 5 separate timers with each indicating what it's for and showing the time remaining.
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
Yesterday I took a character I'd never taken on the SSA, and did parts one through three. For each part I took a Hero Merit.
Today I took the same character to do parts four and five. For Four, the Hero merit was locked out citing that I couldn't take it for a repeated run(despite not having done it before), so I took 10 incarnate threads. Part five wouldn't allow the Hero Merit or threads.
Why does it lock out rewards for episode you've never done one day, but allows it the day before? There doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason why the rewards lock out.
The plastic tips at the end of shoelaces are called aglets. Their true purpose is sinister.
--The Question, JLU