what content should be the template for the future?

Design-wise, I want the game to follow SSA1.7 and SSA2.1, as well as Dark Astoria. They have a good mix of reading and punching things in the face, notably by reserving the "reading" bit for the beginning, end and special whole missions and at the same time giving us lots of the "punching" bit in nice long stretches. It's how a story should be told so as not to get in the way of gameplay but still be a decent story.

Theme-wise for villains, Dean McArthur and Leonard, as well as Bane Spider Ruben. These are arcs that put over the player villain and give him initiative while at the same time not focusing too much on the emo side of being evil. They make evil cool and fun, and it's exactly what a game where I play the bad guy should be. This is villainy at its most glorious and they make me walk away with a smirk and wanting to play them again.

Theme-wise for heroes, Dark Astoria. This is a story about a hero facing adversity, overcoming the odds, standing strong and tall in the face of despair and essentially telling off a literal god. In the process we get to save a bunch of people not just from mortal danger, but from damnation, as well. I know it's supposed to be co-op content and we get the option to be big mean stupidheads from time to time, but honestly? It's some of the best hero content the game has to offer.

See? I can cite good stuff that's not 8 years old if I really put my mind to it. I still prefer The Eternal Nemesis, Division: Line and World Wide Red, but that's just me.

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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.

...Quatrexin!!

Short, one-shot type missions should be patterned after tips:

- You can do them in the zone you're in -- no running halfway across Paragon or the Rogue Isles (even though it's easier to do now than ever before).
- They're short in terms of time investment.
- They're long enough to allow for interesting mechanics (I'm thinking of the Malta Action Hero tip specifically here).
- You get to interact with the game's signature NPCs. More interaction with the lore is always better.
- There are enough of them so that you can pick and choose if for some reason some of them don't fit your character. If your character can't stand up to Carnies, you don't have to take a Carnival of Shadows-based tip. Likewise, if a particular tip gives you two options, neither of which makes sense for your character to pursue, you can drop it and eventually receive another.

One wrinkle I'd like to see added to one-shot missions is to have them incorporate the mechanic from the Valentine's Day tips -- have an option to either start or complete the mission by reporting to one of two contacts (to avoid excessive complexity, I'd be OK with having the contacts be in specific level-appropriate zones) in order to 'resolve' the mission in different ways.

I'm not all that excited about patterning 'long' missions after Dark Astoria, because DA seems to me to be more a number of shorter arcs with a common theme. There's nothing wrong with that, but there should also be a place in the game for truly epic solo mission arcs a la the Freaklympics.

It's easier to say what not to do with these missions than what to do, but I think the devs have pretty much figured all these out already:

- No 'visit 5 different phone booths across the zone and look for ambushes' missions.
- No 'defeat X mobs on the street to find your next mission' missions. (Or, if you absolutely must include such a mission in your larger arc, then at least include the information on which neighborhoods in which zones to visit to find these mobs. "You'll find Council all over Founders' Falls," is not just a lie, but a frustrating one when the contact is on the other side of the zone from where the Council hang out.)
- If you're going to have the 'mission accept' trigger an ambush, have the ambushing mobs appear somewhere close to the contact that gives the mission.
- It's actually OK to have missions take place all over the city -- again, that's part of what makes the mission 'epic' -- but if you're going to send me to an out-of-the-way hazard zone, make that mission meaningful with respect to the zone. For instance, don't just send me to Boomtown to investigate a Council base -- there are Council bases everywhere -- send me to Boomtown to investigate a Council base that's in the midst of fighting off a pack of scavenging Clockwork!

Add in the 'series of short connected arcs' that are represented by the Graves/Twinshot arcs and the Dark Astoria arcs, and you've got something for everyone. (And for the record, the Dr. Graves arc is one of my favorites -- the first time I played the Shining Stars arcs, I saw the 'twist' coming the first time I talked with Grym in the university. Even after playing that arc, I did not see the 'twist' coming in Graves, and it was cooler for it.)

--
Pauper

I think the content in I25 and the issues that come after it should be the template for the future.

Task Forces: ITF
Mission Arcs: Oh, Wretched Man! or Hammer of the World
Trials: Keyes, Dillemma Diabolique or Lambda are good starting points.
XP Gain: Mitos or Arachno-Bombs in AE.

EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE LIKE QUATREXIN!!

That is, Quatrexin after it is completely and utterly overhauled.

I don't really want anything to be a "template" for new content, because I like my content widely varied. I wanna see Gold, Silver, and Bronze age-style storylines (NOT Dork age. The 90's were a dark era for comics, indeed...) alongside modern (Aluminum-Era? Iron-Age? Diamond-Age? Postmodern-Age? Whatever...). If I was constricted to only one type of plot, I'd just lose my mind. If I want exactly one somewhat bland plotline over and over, I'll just play the original Neverwinter Nights 1 campaign repeatedly until my brain oozes out of my ears. And if that happens, fo to me what Randall Monroe requested should he ever join Klout. (i.e. kill me.)

well, one thing it seems the writers should take away from this is a question of agency. contact telling you what to do and you going fetch unquestioningly weakens it. when the contact sets the stage but gives the illusion of your character making the calls then it makes them seem proactive, that is what people want, particularly villains. sound like a consensus?

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

More 4 person casual style lfg team teleporter events like summer blockbluster.

Gotta go with Techbot here regarding villain content. I love me some redside!

More Doc Quarterfield.

>.>

See my Guides and Tutorials

In fact, time for one of those longer, rambly posts from myself.

Villain side is about being a Villain. Not a minion, not a mook, thug, low-life or guttersnipe (unless you want to be, of course), no; a bona fide Super (or non-Super) Villain.
Grass grows, Birds fly, Heroes are Heroes and Villains are nobodies lackey.

Hey, Arachnos? You want help with a job? You damn well commission me. Heroes causing you trouble in Nerva? Convince me. What makes this worth my while? I mean, I'm sure you can keep throwing minions at them till that works, of course. Acceptable losses, right? Or, well, foot my bill, and I can deal with it more professionally.

Hardcase? One, I'm the villain, you're the minion. Two, if you ever try and boss me around again, the Wailers will be using your ribs as toothpicks for the next century! Clear? If I'm going to be working with two-bit errand runners like you, and emphasis on the with not for, then I'm damn well going to be doing it for a price. Or something equally worthwhile.

Black Scorpion? Oh, yes, the big scary tank man. Oh, what's this? I appear to have ground you and your little toys into the floor, face first. What was that about respecting me, again? I'm sorry, speak up a bit?


This 'story' is about the Players. WE are the big freaking Villains, or big freaking Heroes, or big freaking sort of kinda maybe fence-sitter characters. THAT is how the stories should go.

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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.

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