Bubbawheat

Not 100% happy with it, but I've put a lot of work into it, hopefully it shows.

On Sunday we had a few people and ran

To Serve Cookie by @Ullikummis - some 4D arc ID.

It was simple, I thought it was funny with a bunch of custom food police and various food inspectors, and Ulli himself was a big ugly hulking Brute that talked like cookie monster. They all had pretty funny bios, but had low XP and were still a little on the annoying side.

On Ctrl + Alt + Reset: "Nice tiger outifts on the thugs."

Honestly, this one is so out there, I imagine it's from an arc ID swap (leader choosing a new arc before the comment window closes), but if not... I'm still scratching my head on that one.

Another one ""Send a comment to the author (it wont let me submit, and nice quick miss""

"<Possessive "its" doesn't have an apostrophe. But great arc. Took me a while to remember Howie Mandel is bald now.>"

I don't think it's so much as being mad at having more arcs than he can handle, but just doesn't want to take requests that he knows he won't get to in a long while. I'm in a similar situation, but I don't cap myself. He doesn't want to be in my situation - I've had two requests from you for arcs that I haven't gotten around to, and you've been waiting what many might say is an unreasonable amount of time for me to get to them (Suppression is next on my list after Bad Voodoo BTW). He just doesn't want that to happen to him.

How about now? (may need to reload to show the updated image)

Nice pic, this amateur had to give it a little color.

This is going to be tough and easy if this keeps up. I've played all the nominees already,and really like all of them. Will be tough to eliminate if we get many more good ones.

I'm jumping the queue a little bit since I did know one thing about

Storming Citadel #379488 by @MrCaptainMan

was that it only took 10 minutes to play. Bringing out my freshfaced Dual Pistols/Dark corruptor Gemini Curse, newly level 5 and ready to play through these 2nd challenge arcs!

Now my contact is Positron, and although he's disappointed that I'm not Blue Steel, and who am I kidding, so am I. But he's frantic because Infinitismo has disabled Citadel and he will completely delete if we don't reboot him within 10 minutes!!! And the inky part is that I get to be miniaturized and injected inside Citadel's neck in order to save him. There's also various technobabble explanations about what exactly is going on, but tick tick tick, the timers running, off to click some glowies! The map is a typical Arachnos base if my memory serves me right, and actually it's 3 destructible objects, which are those weird looking techy things that have no real world equivilent. I think they're the 21st century version of the Jacob's Ladder in Frankenstein.

But I digress, the destructibles spawn a clicky, the clicky spawns a boss - Infinitesmo, and I complete with 0:07 seconds left on the timer, because I'm Bond cool. And flying around inside Citadel are some red Electrons (wisps) and purple puffballs (purple puffballs... ok, Lanaruu). And coming outside the popup instructs me to wait for it... wait for it... *Kaboom*!!! And Positron - the contact - plays a very explosive animation. It may be a bug, but it is a pretty awesome bug.

The Hero Loses His Power: In this arc Citadel, one of the signature heroes, has lost his power and the player is sent in the mission - inside of him - to clear all the bugs out as it were. It's basically Fantastic Voyage with a City of Heroes twist. The mission doesn't feel as if you are going in to restore his powers, but more like you're going in to save his life. Which isn't a bad thing by any means, but didn't feel like it fit closely enough to the contest either.

The Arc as an Arc: But regardless of the contest, this was really fun to play. I felt like the timer for the mission is a good time, It was pitch perfect for my character, and my heart was racing towards the end worrying if I would be able to finish on time or not. My only complaints were the technobabble was a little too babbly, and the sendoff text was a little too long, I felt like I really needed to skip it and move on with the mission. As before, my running tweets are below in reverse order. Only two were made while the timer was going, and both during loading screens.

Appropriate for the Level Range?: Yes, nothing was too difficult, I died only once due to my own mistakes and didn't have any real trouble completing within the time limit.

Bubbawheat #CoHMA Storming Citadel # 379488 by @ MrCaptainMan, an entry in the 2nd Aeon Challenge.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M1: a lot of mumbo jumbo technobabble, and I guess Positron wanted Blue Steel instead of me. Oh well.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M1: It's a Fantastic Journey - I'm being miniaturized and injected into Citadel's neck - and I've only got 10 minutes to finish!!
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M1: sendoff text could be a little shorter - tick tick tick...
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M1: killed by a purple puffball Oh noes! tick tick tick
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M1: tick tick tick... I must be James Bond - I defeated Infinitesmo with 0:07 seconds left on the timer.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M1: tick tick tick... *BOOM* Positron the contact plays an awesome explosion animation... how? I have no idea.

Yes, I was using this map as well for something I was testing (Arc It's a mad mad mad mad tea party, don't remember the #) and the same thing happened. I zoned in fine, teammate #2 and 3 fell a long way and hit bottom, I had to tp friend them to bring them back. And teammate #4 was fine. I had maxed out boss details (5) enemy group was <empty> and had 1 floor collection object. I'm not sure if all the bosses spawned, since they were non-required, and ally.

Next teaser:



Still not entirely sure what to do with it... but I've still got a while left.

I've been thinking about it for a while, and you're right PW. We're a fairly small community, and I don't want to over-exclude. So I tweaked the rules a little bit to exclude winning arcs, and not authors.

Teamed with this guy a while back, thought it was pretty funny.

There is no original list that I know of. I made this list, and Samuraiko made this list. I'm planning on playing through as many of the arcs as I can get to and posting reviews. If you'd like one from me, feel free to ask and I'll make sure I get to it sooner rather than later.

worked for me, been checking up on it for quite a while though. Don't recognize any forum names there at all though.

I'm reposting this here to clear up the first post to be just an index.
My first arc is the first one posted as being completed:

A Clockwork Romance #344816 by @FredrikSvanburg

My contact is Mr. Yin and he's contacting me because his daughter Penelope is missing, along with her posse of clockwork. He's got no concrete leads so he sends me on

Wild Goose Chase #1: A buried supergroup base that's currently occupied by Arachnos. There's also some Clockwork in the back who tell me that Penelope have been taken by the Lost. When I return to Mr. Yin, he gives me a map drawn by either a four year old or the Clockwork that points to a warehouse where the Lost are supposed to have Penelope. So I'm now off onto

Wild Goose Chase #2: A warehouse that's supposed to be where the Lost are holding Penelope Yin, but instead the Clockwork are holding every other Penelope in Paragon City. There's also a little clockwork in the back holding a piece of paper who says "Freem!" before running off. It's a hostage note for what seems like all these women that I just rescued and they want Penelope Yin for the Clockwork King from the Lost for real this time or else the other women get it. This brings me to

The rock and the hard place: The final mission has a 10 minute timer where I have to rescue the real Penelope Yin from the real Lost and escort her to the entrance to spend the rest of her life with the Clockwork King... or let her remain with the Lost for their nefarious plot with her which I forget. Or you could rescue her and not lead her to the entrance, but there's no way to know how far along you actually went before timing out. The mission ends with a newspaper headline either mentioning the rescue of all the women and disappearance of Penelope, or the disappearance of all the women.

The arc as an arc: The story felt a little bit rushed, without a lot of details to the mission briefings and boss dialogs. I felt the best writing was the headlines for the final return text, though most people will only get to see one of them. Also the second mission felt like it really served no purpose other than a red herring. Seeing the hostages don't make you connect with them any more for the choice in the third mission. And it's a little pointless to rescue the women only to have them be captured again right afterward. It could be different women, but that also lessens the point of this mission.

The evil for the greater good: This arc decided to give the player a choice, even though both choices have an "evil" side to them. You either deliver Penelope to the Clockwork King to rescue all of the hostages (which you had previously just rescued), or leave Penelope *and* all the other women to their fate.

Regardless, good luck in the contest! Next up: A Penny for your thoughts (the first one that caught my eye on the forums).

Today I finally come to the last of my requested reviews for the first Aeon's Challenge and review number 15 of the 24 still-published known entries. I don't think I will fully review all of the rest of the entries, but I probably will still go over a few of them, if quickly. But today is for Recluse's Phantom's:

One Too Many Lines Crossed ID# 347205 by @Ari

This arc starts out a little confusing, with your contact an Arachnos Arbiter. There is a little blurb about you being in deep cover and the Arbiter asks you to clear out a riot going on in St. Martial. After accepting your mission, you get radioed by your real contact - Longbow, through a mission begin clue, asking you to go along to find out more information. My first task, in a nice less-used outdoor slums map, is to clear out <The Uprising> who seem to be renamed <Crazed> as they are regular citezen models attacking me, with two Psychic bosses to defeat which leads my character and Longbow to surmise that they are being mind-controlled.

Next mission is going deeper undercover, with both the Arbiter contact and Longbow driving the "Evil" part of the challenge in a little bit too hard it seems. I'm going in to capture one of <The Uprising>'s leaders and "question" any civilians who might know anything. Also, there's likely to be Longbow there which I have to "kill" according to my Longbow contact, in order to keep my cover going.

The third mission is one that I have some big problems with, though I do think it's a fairly unique method to is. The story is that I am "interrogating" the hostage to get more information out of him. The Arbiter assures me that their medics will step in so they can continue their questioning later, but warns me that I need to more or less "make it look real" or there will be problems. Also, their Fortunatas will be suppressing his Psychic powers. So I walk into the small casino map and proceed to beat down a single, powerless hostage as he gives up some information. This mission, while interesting in concept, just made me feel dirty. And this is driven home even more in the followup text mentioning that my character already knew when she was told that the medics couldn't save him, and probably didn't even try.

My next mission is the one I really liked the best. My Arbiter contact has me meeting up with two other Arbiters for back up to take out the leader of <The Uprising> that we found out about through our "interrogation". He's called the Kommissar, and my Longbow contact tells me that I need to make sure he gets out alive. This double cross mission - which worked perfectly with the allies betraying at the right moment - is a great part of the storyline, and the best part of this arc for me. The final mission is a fairly standard wrap up, getting The Kommissar as an ally and taking out my contact, with Longbow helping out and burning the place down to destroy the evidence before finally sneaking out of the Rogue Isles for good.

Evil For the Greater Good: This arc has the evil part down in spades. The whole arc would feel pretty much like a villainous arc if you never read your clues. Your character could just decide on their own that they want to double cross their contact for their own ends. And the hostage interrogation is pretty "brutal". The part that doesn't come across quite so well is the greater good. From what I remember, we saved The Kommissar to allow him to continue undermining Arachnos's control of the Rogue Isles... and that's it. Doesn't seem like it's worth it.

The Arc as an Arc: I think this could be reworked a little bit outside of the constraints of the challenge, to be a nice spy/double cross arc. Play up on that fourth mission and throw in more twists and turns and double crosses. I saw that the arc only had two rates before me, and I get the feeling that there have been more plays than that, but the players quit at mission 2 or 3 because they didn't want to continue an arc where they are attacking helpless enemies, regardless of the story reason, and were being nice by not rating it at all, instead of a spiteful 1 star. The arc has promise, and some good details, but I can't say I liked it as it stands now. You can read my as-I-go thoughts reposted from twitter below in reverse order.

Bubbawheat #CoHMA M5: And now Longbow want me to kill my Arachnos contact, and Der Kommisar. Ouch.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M5: Ooh, mission subtitle is a variation of one of my favorite quotes. Here is "Those with clean gloves have dirtier hands."

Bubbawheat #CoHMA M4: Nice, Kommisar's a thugs MM but only calls posse - might also have dual pistols, but not sure.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M4: Mechanics on double cross worked without a hitch. Very nice.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M4: heh, I found one operative, he found the other one.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M4: I guess I am turning around... on Arachnos! Rescuing the Kommisar and taking out my Arachnos "allies".
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M4: The Kommisar's in town. I guess I better not turn around.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M4: And the medics did nothing, so I just killed a helpless victim... waiting for the greater good here...

Bubbawheat #CoHMA M3: I must have missed where the interrogation was to confess to treason. And Arby mentions that blood is close enough for a sig.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M3: his third line is "Here's what I know..." but he doesn't actually say anything. I don't think I like this workaround.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M3: And yep, totally powerless. One mission attacking a single boss level foe without any attacks.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M3: Lots of "brutally"s in popup and compass text. Yeah, I'd say a little heavy handed.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M3: I'm assured medics will take over when I'm done, and Fortunatas are suppressing his abilities. Wondering if he's powerless?
Bubbawheat back to #CoHMA M3: I'm interrogating the prisoner myself. Arbiter warns that it's gotta be real - either he knows, or author is heavy handed

Bubbawheat #CoHMA objective is "2 civilians to investigate" and "Erase all traces of the investigation" must be defeat all. Have to attack civilians.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M2: saw a <citizen> running around. Seemed to have a power aura but didn't attack me. Custom with no attack powers selected?
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M2: map is Kalinda intro mission map.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M2: fighting more civilians to find out more info on <The Uprising> for Arby and LB, and LB points out I'll be *killing* Longbow.

Bubbawheat #CoHMA M1: Arbiter drives the villainous heroics nail in a little deeper, feels like the author is overselling it a little.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M1: clue informs me that the Uprising's psychic leaders among other things hints at mind control. Confirming earlier fears, from desc
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M1: I really like the map, it's one I rarely see. A nice outdoor slum area.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M1: Uprising Strike leader has same bio as everyone else in the group. Was hoping for something a little more unique.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M1: <The Uprising> are fighting <RIP> and winning. I believe they are renamed <Crazed>.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA M1: My task is to quell a riot in St. Martial. Arbiter gives rough details, and Longbow tries to hit the "wrong" nail home.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA so I'm going undercover in the Rogue Isles for Longbow and I get my real mission briefing as a mission start clue from Longbow.
Bubbawheat #CoHMA My contact is an Arachnos Arbiter? Wonder why a hero's going to work with one of them?
Bubbawheat #CoHMA One Too Many Lines Crossed # 347205 by @ Ari aka ReclusesPhantom, from the first Aeon Challenge.

Update 3/5/10:
A nice gift sketch from Lady Judgement of my Dominator after I just missed another offer from the generous Caemgen. I love how he made her face look more womanly, but still kept touches from the alien face. - Click for larger version.



Also, I went through and formatted most of my entries to be more standardized.

If I am a winner, I permit NC Interactive, Inc. and NCsoft Europe Limited to use my name, likeness, photograph, hometown, and any comments that I may make about myself or this contest that I provide for advertising and promotional activities. I also certify that I am at least 13 years of age and am eligible to participate in this contest.




Mod 08 wanted to be one of the cool guys who don't look at explosions, but then he saw a bright and shiny quarter on the ground.

I think it's a combination of you being so generous that you've already hit up most everyone interested in this thread with a freebie - and those same people are not over art-greedy, I was even reluctant to post since I'd gotten two pieces from you already. Also this particular thread isn't as popular as it used to be (I think things would have been quite different if you made a new thread that said "Free art here!")

And thanks LJ! Awesome sketch!

That is hilarious. I'll have to remember that.

Another tease, mostly the same, though with better resolution.




And the best part...

Well, if no one's taken the last spot, I do have a couple Burnt Matchsticks without any art yet. Notably my dominator (see sig), though if that spot has already been filled privately, don't worry about it.

He had runners up for the last one, he just waited a few weeks to announce them. I imagine a few of this round will also become Dev's Choices on their own merits.

You're definitely not an "unknown author" now. Congratulations on another win, and keep making great arcs!