The Signature Story Arc is Epic
The SSA isn't years old, it's actually relatively new (the entire thing is post-Freedom launch, the last arc only launched a couple months ago).
I loved SSA#1 as well (soloed it on a lvl 50 villain Fortunata ), although a lot of people didn't like how characters died. Personally, I thought the SSA added more depth to the signature heroes than pretty much the entire rest of the game combined had done. And, I liked being a Villain that did... evil things!
Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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Cue Venture or sufficient substitute in 3... 2... 1.....
![](http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/KojiroJames/neversurrendersig.jpg)
![Frown](images/smilies/frown.gif)
Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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I hated SSA1, and I consider it to be easily some of the WORST content the game has seen in years. And no, that's neither a joke nor an exaggeration. Aside from SSA1.7, they're chock full of gimmicks that distract from the game's strengths - basic gameplay - and the story is... Ugh. I'm glad the OP didn't know who any of the Phanax members were, because I knew at least a little about them, and that arc is an utter ruination for practically the entire group, aside from Positron (of course) and BABs who is somehow never shown to be an incompetent goofy horrible person.
Moreover, it feels patronising to me as a player. After quite literally years of requests that our characters be brought up to the level of the signature NPCs, the writers instead go and murder many of them, then discredit the rest, all the while we remain exactly where we were. In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, I just wish we didn't have to poke the eyes out of everyone else to do it. And this also tells me the writers believe that I hate the signature characters for being better than me and want to see them killed and humiliated. I really don't. I wanted them to remain respectable so that when I eventually reached their level, the achievement was worth a crap, but the people SSA1 depicts as running the Freedom Phalanx are unworthy of admiration or imitation. They're horrible people worthy only of contempt, and that's by design.
If it weren't for Dark Astoria - a GOOD story - I could swear we've just fired all the writers and were improvising on the spot. We'll see what Night Ward feels like when it launches (I hear it DOESN'T involve humiliating and killing Katie Hannon, so that's a step in the right direction), but even if that turns out great, I still have very little desire to try SSA2 if it's anything like SSA1.
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.
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As a villain the story was eh. I dug the gameplay, but just could not get into the story. It starts kind of strong, but falls apart in Part 5. Picks back up in part 7, though, where Arachnos, Recluse, and the Patrons proved how bamf they are.
Blueside, though, the whole thing was just a mish mash of everyone screwing up and dropping the ball everywhere. It was just awful. And the big moment that was spoiled for us, where the mighty Statesman falls, involves the guy walking into an obvious trap, set by a greasy book nerd with a ponytail and trench coat, and dies like a total chump. Then immediately afterward, Psyche's killed off purely to make room for Yin, and it comes pretty much out of no where.
The maps were hella awesome, though, and I hope we get 'em in AE ASAP. And I did enjoy Rularuu getting exposure. That's about all I can say I legit liked about the SSA, though.
This is probably old news to a lot of you who have been playing this game for years. But I want to make a post any way.
I just did the Signature Story Arc for the first time. I had done parts 1 and 2 before, but only now did me and my friend Xanthos have have our first toons reach level 40. And it's an amazing story. Within the limitations of the game engine, it's a lot of fun and you really feel like you're part of the story. This alone is enough reason to subscribe, it took us about 20 hours to play through the whole thing, more content than some games have in total. Except for the Paragon Wiki, I don't know who half the characters are, but even then it's a very nice story. I'm looking forward to hopefully Signature Story Arc 2. |
http://na.cityofheroes.com/en/media_...ic_archive.php
The fiirst 12 focus of 3 lower level heroes, although 1 of them went on to be very well known around the game - but the series after the first 12 focus on the members of the Freedom Phalanx - and the last 2 were done more as promotions for 2 in game events.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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.
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Already there, I'd say.
![](http://www.fightersgeneration.com/characters/jontalbain-win3.gif)
I am shocked, shocked, that an "I like thread turns into an I hate thread" post happened. This never happens. So when do we get to complain about people complaining, or does that come next?
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I mean, seriously, what would have been wrong with just... I don't know, not posting? Or at most saying "I'm glad you liked it. I thought it could use some work, but everyone's taste is different." And boom - leaving it at that. As opposed to, oh, trying to beat down the OP's "I liked it" post with "These are all the reasons why what you like sucks!"
I am shocked, shocked, that an "I like thread turns into an I hate thread" post happened. This never happens. So when do we get to complain about people complaining, or does that come next?
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EDIT: Oops, forgot to reply to the OP. Those arcs can be pretty fun! I really enjoyed the maps most, though. I really hope we get access to them in AE.
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
As opposed to, oh, trying to beat down the OP's "I liked it" post with "These are all the reasons why what you like sucks!"
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Leaving the cheerleaders to do their thing got us the slogfest of a grindfest that is DA (which took all of one issue to not cover all incarnate slots).
Yes, the maps were cool.
The idiotball sextuple header I can do without.
Don't worry, Sam, we'll always be able to count on you and Tenzhi at the very least to be sure we know JUST how big every grey cloud is for every millimeter of silver lining.
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Also, I don't recall Citadel's role in the SSA. Did he also get ruined in some way?
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
Heh. I was going to say that I think Sam is a bit hard on the story arc.
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![Wink](images/smilies/wink.gif)
And I don't believe Citadel was bothered one way or the other.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
I am shocked, shocked, that an "I like thread turns into an I hate thread" post happened. This never happens. So when do we get to complain about people complaining, or does that come next?
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I enjoyed SSA1 until your post. Now I realize that part of the game I enjoy is in fact total garbage. I was planning to run the last 3 parts on my scrapper tonight... but I'll just head to bed instead.
Never seen this community try so actively to destroy people's excitement over their game.
It's more trying to salvage SSA2+ than trying to destroy people's excitement. If the Devs learn (the right things) from SSA1 then States and crew won't have been lost for nothing.
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Hopefully future SSAs will be better and not involve us and all the heroes in it doing dumb things that we normally wouldn't do or fall for.
Blazara Aura LVL 50 Fire/Psi Dom (with 125% recharge)
Flameboxer Aura LVL 50 SS/Fire Brute
Ice 'Em Aura LVL 50 Ice Tank
Darq Widow Fortune LVL 50 Fortunata (200% rech/Night Widow 192.5% rech)--thanks issue 19!
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I'd like to thank you Sam.
I enjoyed SSA1 until your post. Now I realize that part of the game I enjoy is in fact total garbage. I was planning to run the last 3 parts on my scrapper tonight... but I'll just head to bed instead. Never seen this community try so actively to destroy people's excitement over their game. |
Sam doesn't like SSA #1. That's valid, not everyone will. But only you can decide if you like it. And the only way to determine that is to play through it.
So go, play!
I took my best Incarnate Scrapper through it just to see what it was like and I was pleasently surprised at how fun it was. I have been playing for years but I never payed close attention to the Lore, I gues they wrote it for players like me or new players.
For the most part, I enjoyed SSA #1.
On the plus side, it had some really amazing maps throughout the story. The Hollows filled with lava was really nice to see (and I think it should actually BE a part of the Hollows. It made the zone look a lot more interesting/menacing.) The map with the floating destroyers was really impressive, and of course, who can forget about the space map? Going into Psyche's mind was also really interesting as far as maps go.
The story was also interesting to follow. I might be in the minority, but I liked watching the numerous cutscenes and watching characters banter back and forth, like Ms. Liberty and Manticore and all the others that occurred. I don't mind those moments of downtime or missions that are mostly talking, because I like story and character moments.
Statesman's death, though, was kind of a letdown. Not only did everyone know it was coming beforehand thanks to the announcement, but it was handled really poorly. He went down without a fight and walked straight into an obvious trap. It just seemed like a waste. We should have had the opportunity to at least INTERACT with Statesman ONCE in the SSA before he died. Where was our opportunity to connect with the guy for one last time, to get his viewpoint on everything that's going on, to argue with him or agree with him or try to console him, etc? He just kinda showed up in SSA #5 and kicked the bucket. Heck, I even would have liked to have seen him at the funeral, getting angry at Ms. Liberty or whatever and talking to him then. It just seemed like a waste. His death was handled poorly.
I also don't like the fact that Sister Psyche died. I don't feel like we ever really got to know her that well in the game, or that she got a lot of moments to make her mark. It felt like she died just to be a shocking death. At the very least, I would have preferred for her to fall into a coma or lose her powers or something. Not dying. Let's say she lost her powers, she could have been around to act as an adviser for Penny.
Other than that, though, I thought the SSA's were rather enjoyable. If the first part of SSA 2 on beta is any indication, I think it's going to be much more enjoyable.
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Hi everyone.
I think it's worth me saying here that in the sense of a total story, the SSA did what it set out to do and I don't think anyone has a problem particuarly with the last part, which really did go for the epic conclusion, and has a press conference and has an epilogue that ties it off nicely.
However, it's the construction as a story that I think people rightly should have issues with. The most obvious are these are the logic gaps that occur when Statesman and Sister Psyche die, and they were enough at least for me to be jarred out of the story and broke my suspension of disbelief. The Statesman cutscene is appropriately dramatic, but the placing of the Obvious Trap (especially given how convenient it becomes that Statesman a)Seems to ignore his vast experience as a hero (can anyone imagine Captain America falling for this after having seen The Avengers?) and b) is somehow unreachable by any means to facilitate the death.
I don't mind if any character is being written out for whatever reason, so long as that writing is internally consistent with the characer and isn't doing things to forcibly make the character seem less than competent. This extends to the Sister Psyche death, where not only is the player character blatantly removed from the situation so as to unimpede the progress of the story, but extremely elementary precautions aren't taken to protect her at any point.
These aren't personal observations, they're simple observations on the writing. If I'm presented with a story and I'm immediately asking questions or finding myself unable to suspend my disbelief, that is a bad thing.
I'd like to think SSA 2 will be better than this, but it's not a good start.
S.
Part of Sister Flame's Clickey-Clack Posse
This is probably old news to a lot of you who have been playing this game for years. But I want to make a post any way.
I just did the Signature Story Arc for the first time. I had done parts 1 and 2 before, but only now did me and my friend Xanthos have have our first toons reach level 40.
And it's an amazing story. Within the limitations of the game engine, it's a lot of fun and you really feel like you're part of the story.
This alone is enough reason to subscribe, it took us about 20 hours to play through the whole thing, more content than some games have in total.
Except for the Paragon Wiki, I don't know who half the characters are, but even then it's a very nice story.
I'm looking forward to hopefully Signature Story Arc 2.