Its all about the story...

I think I finally realized whats wrong with the AE capabilities.

Yes..yes, specific mob placement, editable maps, on and on would be nice. Things like that, however, are simply cosmetic.

After finishing essentially what amounts to a 12 mission task force I have been creating, I realized what the AE is truly missing after playing it over and over for months trying to get my AE arcs right.


It's the story and the way its told. And by that I dont just mean the grammar, storyline.............although those things are important.

With the leader being the only one reading the intro dialogue.........that's problematic enough.

MOST, if not all....people miss the important dialogue within the mission itself. Some of that information is critical (especially when the dialogue is meant to overcome limitations in the editor).

THE AE needs to fix this using one of two methods (or both...devs willing)

1. Just as in Task Forces, we need specific dialogue that flashes IN FRONT of your screen to be put in at any point we deem. This way the team doesnt miss it in their rambling chat windows.

2. Mini-movie creator. I know its been debated........but it is vital if we are to tell stories. It is critical at key points.


IF YOU DO THIS............the sky is the limit and you will see teams actually playing the AE OVER and over for GREAT content rather than just farming.


Just my thoughts...hope something like this is down the road.

I couldn't agree more. I do like AE and it's potential, it could be truly great if the story telling could be improved. And then we need someway of finding those good stories without sifting through a lot of junk.

TB

I agree as well..I remember on a past freedom friday, about a month ago, with a talk with one of the devs, I mentioned if we were getting anything for 124. He said they are adding content, fixes, and a few new things...

This, what you mentioned, is very important for those who do want a story with AE.


I can't see how this would be difficult to implement, since it already exists outside of AE, and all it is is just pop-up in mission text.

These are great ideas, though cut-scene movies feel a bit trickier to implement and prone to overuse.

In general though, I think this is a weakness of arcs, task forces, and trials throughout COX. In teams, it is hard to know what is going on story-wise because of some UI things (e.g., only the leader talking to the contact; clues being under a menu instead of more readily accessible) and because not everyone is in it for the story so teams tend to rush through.

I guess its been this way for so long that I have tended to accept this and write for the solo AE player. Well, also because its hard to find teams to play AE in the first place.

I disagree.

I think the problem with most AE arcs is the reliance upon text to tell the story.

I want to play a story, not read one or watch a video of it.

What is most important to me is who I see, what they are doing, and what I do.

In my living room I have a book, a tv, and CoH. The reading and video are covered by the other 2. CoH has to be about the playing.

You can't just "play" a "story", though. Story involves context, dialog, interaction, and other things besides just conflict. If there's no text, you may as well be in a featureless void beating up featureless enemies.

You can't divulge your opponents motives by beating them up. There's no sense in making/collecting clues if you don't read your clue box. If a mission objective says "Search 5 crates", do you know why you're doing it, or do you act like a mindless robot and just click on anything that hums and glows?

Story is important. Its the entire justification for everything in the game. Since AE authors cannot make new game mechanics, there's no sense playing AE if you're not in it for the story. Any other Dev-made mission will accomplish what you hope to do within AE, except maybe farm tickets.

I'll go out on a limb and defend what dugfromthearth says....

Remember all those people who used to be down on the MA and troll us with "You'll never be the next Stan Lee, no one wants to read your poorly-written stories"? They may have had their point as well.

My point* is they didn't have to read, just play the darn things and enjoy beating things up, maybe admire the pretty costumes I made for the foes. People could still play MA that way, you know, if the devs had kept the rewards up to date.

With the way we're awash in merits these days, tickets don't really mean much though.

*besides saying "eurgh, who wants to be Stan Lee?!"