Dalghryn

When I created my arcs, I was a completist. I made certain to have good Mission Fail dialogue and pop-ups written in case the mission was... well... failed, of course.

Then I thought about it and realized that, in my game play experience, you can't "fail" many missions. You may not complete them, in which case they'll reset and you can try again later, or you can skip them through the contact, but you don't "fail."

Mission fails end up with you being booted from the mission with the big flashy "Mission Failed" emblazoned across your screen. That happens when you fail to catch a runner, fail to defend a defendable object, fail to finish a time mission on time and... um... and?

Bottom line, am I missing something, or is there really a need for the mission failed fields to be filled out if the mission can't be "failed?" Those desperately in need of the additional memory want to know.

Really? I'm flattered. I hope I stay that way after you review it.

Anyway, consider Horsemen or Wolfpack done, then.

OK, I'll add mine to your ever-growing list and add yours to mine.

The Consequences of War - Part 1 (Arc #227331)

If you enjoy it enough to consider running Part 2 (Arc #241496) like a few others have, I'll add another one of yours to my list, but I figure you'll be pretty swamped for a while.

Thanks a bunch for joining the reviewers' elite. There are never too many good reviewers, and I can attest to the fact that constructive reviews make a huge difference to the quality of an arc.

P.S. Do you have any particular preference as to which of your arcs needs feedback the most? If so, I'm on it. If not, I'll just pick one.

For those of you that enjoy really good comedic arcs, I've got to recommend:

'Captain Dynamic, the Great, Faces the Great Face' - Tryouts (Arc #190069)

It is a hilarious take on the AE, with on-liners that had me laughing out loud. I'm an older guy, so I can't guarantee that Gen Y-ers will get everything, but who knows *what* Gen Y-ers get, anyway? (That was a joke, Gen Y-ers.)

Anyway, I gave it a hearty 5 Stars. I just wish I'd have thought of the "Captain Dynamic" name first...

Now for a bit of divergence from the "It's all about me" tone of this thread, I bring you a very brief review of an arc written by a convert from the dark closet of CoW critics to the bright light of CoW fandom.

'Captain Dynamic, the Great, Faces the Great Face' - Tryouts (Arc #190060)

Even if this hadn't been written by Airhead (@Aehaed), or even if he had not been such a help with CoW, I'd have loved this arc. Frankly, it takes a lot for me to enjoy comedy arcs. I just take my superheroing very seriously and feel like most comedy arcs are demeaning to the genre. So, for me to actually 5 star a comedy arc (which I did), it has to be special.

When an arc starts of with compass text that says...

SPOILER WARNING! The rest of this review thing contains spoilers, so read with your spoiler filter glasses on!

"Save the Cat, Save the World!"

You have me hooked from the get-go. I'm a HUGE Heroes fan, you see... but I digress.

This arc is laced with some great one-liners. It's got a solid plot and a really interesting take on the AE that I won't go into here because I don't want to spoil it. In fact, if I have any complaint (which I really don't), it's that the "interesting take" that involves some AE reprogramming gets a little confusing at times.

When is it the original program and when is it modified? Red letters are obviously a clue, but there are some things that I couldn't figure out if they were real or Memorex. For example, the wonderful e-mails... were they really writen by GF to CD, or were they part of the corrupted program? Did GF put them in the program to embarass GF and CD, or... See, I'm confused again.

There are a couple of these instances, but -- being the big picture guy I am -- they were still so funny, I just sidelined my confusion and kept on going.

I'm not certain how some of the "Is it real, is it real but not supposed to be there, or is it totally fabricated by Captain S?" issue can really be clarified without detracting from the fun, though, so -- as far as suggestions go -- I have to break my own rule. You get a criticism without a suggestion as to how to fix it. I write drama, bud, I can't get my head around what goes on in the head of a comedic creator enough to make suggestions.

The good news is, I bet my wife can -- and she'll probably be adding her two cents later.

In short, for anyone that visits my thread to read reviews I never said I'd be doing, I give this 5 big techie taffy stars out of 5, and absolutely recommend it to your friends and neighbors.

[ QUOTE ]
The impression I got from the arc was that smacking a panel in Sewer Rikti's battlesuit somehow turned on a translator, which was then extracted and refined by Dr. Brinell so we could intercept Rikti communications.

This is apparently not what you wanted to convey.

That's why I say just skip the translator issue entirely and send us to Dr. B for another reason.

[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, that's exactly what I'm trying to convey. Sometimes you just get lucky. Sometime during the pummeling that was required to take out Tro'Naht, the external output for the translator was tripped, cluing the heroes in on the fact that the Rikti have been able to understand their battle commands the entire time -- or at least the Rikti leaders have. So, our hero gathers up the broken armor and takes it back to Lazon, who later has him take it to Brinell.

In the mean time, Lazon's been trying to figure out how the Rikti are jamming our communications. Brinell has info that can help with that. The two (translator/jamming) aren't related, but both provide more opportunity for the player character to contribute in a meaningful way, and both come into play in the second arc.

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, when I'm not sure if the allies I'm rescuing should actually be following me around or not that's kind of a drag.

[/ QUOTE ]
Gotcha, and fixed.

[ QUOTE ]
As far as MA goes, I generally don't mind being redundant as long as I'm "on the winning team". If I'm redundant AND the storyline's being written so that I'm either losing, or winning at orthogonal purposes to victory? Yeah, that's a pain.

[/ QUOTE ]
Well, in this case "the winning team" is the Rikti, and that's established CoH canon I'm not messing with. It's the point of my story. My first incarnations of CoW were really bummers, and the player character really took a back seat to the SOLUS heroes. Both on my own and with input from dozens of people like yourself, I believe I've found a fairly good balance. You can't win because history says you don't. The SOLUS characters have to die because history says they do.

But within those limits, you, the player character, help keep a few city block from being blown to cinders; you're critical in finding out about the Rikti translator tech; you manage to save several younger heroes, citizens and defenders outright that would have otherwise been toast, and probably help contribute to keeping some of the gold and yellow group alive a little longer; you save Brinell and her research -- research which leads to good things later down the road (both in established CoH canon and in CoW Part 2); and you generally make the situation far better than it could have been.

Is that a win? I guess it depends on your perspective. Is your character redundant? Not in the slightest. Like I've said. This is like "Saving Private Ryan." There's simply no happy ending, but a job gets done that wouldn't have if it weren't for you, and in the end when the good guys *do* win, you played a part that made a difference.

Mission #2:

Couple of mistakes in the first dialogue -- "...With the downing (dawning) of hte (the) new day..."

Remember the ellipses problem.

Your accept mission text is too long. It scrolls off the screen.

The use of multiple question marks (Longbow dialogue) is similar to the misuse of ellipses. One will work fine.

Honestly, I have a hard time believing that a quick, "Wait! I'm here to help protect Agent B! Hold your fire!" wouldn't pretty much put a stop to the entire Longbow animosity thing. Maybe you could come up with a better explanation as to why they want to blow your brains out besides your just being there.

The same is true for Agent B just leaving. Her description makes her out to be something special. If she is just going to leave, instead of help, I'd suggest coming up with a better reason.

And, speaking of descriptions. Director Prime, as bad a$$ as he is, doesn't have his own personal description, just the default Longbow Batista one.

The compass text for Director Prime just says, "Director Prime." It's not hard to figure out he wants to make you into paste and you need to make him take a nap, but you might want to explain that better in the compass text.

Oh, and I managed to beat him, after two trips to the hospital and about a half dozen lucks. I'm not sure I'd complain about his power or not, personally, but I can see how he'd be very hard to beat in many solo cases. I understand you're pushing this as a team-style task force, but just remember you'll lose a lot of potential players -- and probably generate additional negative reviews -- if you keep him this tough.

Your mission return text has a sentence fragment -- "In generations past" -- and the ellipses-equipped statement above it is confusing.

In general, my character is beginning to feel somewhat useless. Two missions in a row he's basically failed. Not only has he not stopped Catalyst from getting the DNA he needs, he can't even convince Longbow he's a good guy. As several folks pointed out to me when I first published my arc in a *much* different format -- it doesn't make you feel very heroic. I fixed the complaints about my arc. It'll be your decision whether you stick to your guns or not on yours.

On to mission #3 later.

[ QUOTE ]
I wasn't trying to be mean...

[/ QUOTE ]
I apparently failed in my attempt to make sure you knew I wasn't really referring to you. Since your post included some negative critique -- which is not at all a bad thing, since it helps us all make our arcs better -- I just saw it as an opportunity to warn him/her that nasty ones could be part of the package.

Yours was not at all nasty, but some people get their jollies by being that way. I was just trying to give him/her a heads up.

OK, I'm busy taking care of a five month old baby who gets first priority over everything, so I'm just going to take your arc a mission at a time. Here goes:

First, I'm running it with a level 50 Energy-squared blaster on Heroic. This mission wasn't quite a cake walk, since it did require me to use my powers strategically, but it wasn't terribly hard.

General thoughts -- Though it's another "save the world from the invincible ancient evil" story, I like what you're doing with it. Very few ideas are actually "new," it's just how they're presented that makes some different. I like your custom group very much. It's obvious you've put thought and effort into the characters. Your '60's hero clones are particularly interesting and well-done. DC Comics fan by chance?

This definitely has the potential to be one of the better arcs.

My first critique would be in your use of ellipses. I happen to be a fan of them, and make use of them in my arc, however, you're *way* overusing them. They should only be used to indicate a pause or interruption in speech, and overuse of them tends to be an amateur mistake. I'm not at all calling you an "amateur," but I am saying it is perceived that way. I'd suggest single periods at the ends of phrases, and substituting commas or hyphens whenever you can. I started listing specifics as I was running the mission, but finally just decided to make this blanket suggestion.

Now, for specifics.

In the arc description, you say it's recommended for levels 40 - 50. Now that you've set the levels to 40 - 54, is that necessary?

I'd add a contact description in the arc info section so you're not just reading the default hologram description when you click on "About this Character."

In the mission send off dialogue the previously noted "activateMisery" is still there.

In the mission entry pop-up, if I'm not mistaken, the proper word would be "whomever," not "whoever," but that's kind of a nit.

If there's any way of explaining the mission goals in the dialogue or mission begin clue, that would help. I figured out what the compass text was telling me to do through trial and error, but some clarification would be nice. I know it's harder to do with the angle you've taken, but it's something to consider.

A couple of spelling/punctuation problems in Abomination's description -- There should be a comma after "strange," You have two periods after "ends," and "step" is spelled "stap."

In his dialogue (which is also overburdened with ellipses ) "unworthy" is spelled "unwirthy."

While I like all the character descriptions very much, I'm curious about how we'd know any of the background info. Maybe you can have the player character doing some research or something that's described somewhere (again, the new Mission Begin Clue is perfect for that kind of stuff, or some other clue.) Yeah, I know the same question pops up on character bios and stuff, but that can be assumed to be taken from Paragon City records or something. Anyway, just a thought.

In the Mission End dialogue, "plans" should have an apostrophe. You might have Catalyst say something along the lines of, "Despite the interference of this era's superpowered beings, my troops recaptured the Abomination and brought him to me." in order to better clarfy that, even though you succeeded, you failed. I also hope that this is the only mission that is a guaranteed failure despite your efforts. If it isn't, players will catch on quick and will be less likely to feel terribly heroic. Trust me, that's *huge* with people that have critiqued my arcs.

Anyway, that's mission #1. I hope to hit #2 after I grab a bite.

American_Angel, I've run into the same problem with edits not sticking. I think the problem is twofold, and both have been mentioned. 1) Make very sure you're editing your published arc and not your local server version. They are two separate beings, and don't interchange. You can't even publish the local version over the published version. If you try, you'll publish a second version of the arc. 2) As previously mentioned, use the "Republish and Edit" button and not the "Republish" button. They both seem to do the same thing, anyway, but the second is unreliable.

And, just in case the previous, well-intentioned, poster has you flustered, I'll just give you fair warning that some opinions will surprise you, some will bother you, and some people just take great pride in being cruel. Keep the constructive and positive ones in mind, and don't let the negative ones get to you. If you can get something from their comments that helps, great. If not, don't sweat it. And, again, this is no reflection on Noght's post -- I just thought now would be a good time to give you some support.

OK, if you'll run Consequences of War (227331), I'd be honored. In the mean time, yours is on my "to do" list.

Ok... re. The Carnival of Shadows -- according to Paragon Wiki, Vanessa Devore and her ghostly friend *did* have forces involved at the end of the Rikti War, and helped the Alpha Team. They did not form the Carnival of Shadows -- with the carnival theme and atmosphere -- until they went rogue, however. So, no CoS in my CoW CoH arc. I'll probably leave the tents... I just like that map. But, then again, if I find one I like better, you never know.

Still mulling over your second suggestion. I won't feel too bad if I decide to leave it, though. You were, after all, the impetus behind my complete revamp of the Vanguard and several missions tied to them.

[ QUOTE ]
I have now replayed the first arc and played the second arc for the first time...

[/ QUOTE ]
Thank you *very* much for the praise. As it has been suggested, I'll just "bask" for a while.

I'll also take another look at a couple things. First, your suggestion about the Carnies. Originally, the Carnies *were* involved in that mission, but as bad guys. Then it was pointed out to me that they weren't bad guys until after the war. Wow, talk about a whopper of an error (the second mission was filled with them at first). I did my homework and read that Vanessa Devore wasn't actually involved in fighting the Rikti until the very end of the war - with the understanding that the Carnival of Shadows wasn't formed until later. I'll look into it again, 'cause if you're right, that'd be a neat tweak.

As far as the ending goes, I've established in personal canon outside of these arcs that these six characters met the end detailed in that mission. That canon has been used by several of my characters as well as quite a few of those I don't own. I suppose I could fudge for the arc, but I'm not certain I'm crazy about the idea. I'll take a look at the text and see if I can come up with something I like.

In any case, thank you very much. Considering the thread we first made contact -- as it were -- I almost feel like I've made a convert. I'm very flattered you like it.

[ QUOTE ]
You might also want to figure out how to grow a thicker skin.

You asked for reviews of your story but when the responses came in contrary to your expectations you went on the defensive. And instead of moving on from a "bad" review, this comment makes you look like you're holding a grudge.

Not everyone is going to have the same reaction to your story. Bask in the glow of the praise, accept any suggestions you think will help and ignore the rest. Life's too short.

[/ QUOTE ]
You're absolutely correct. I did ask for almost every review I've received (or am about to receive). And, yes, one of them incited me to make comments that were defensive. I later retracted that post because it *was* poorly conceived. That doesn't, however, invalidate the comment I wrote that you quoted.

Good reviews don't necessarilly have to be *positive* reviews. They should, however, include not only the criticism, but also constructive suggestions for fixing it. They should also refrain from snarkiness and personal attacks. LaserJesus' review of my earlier version of "Consequences of War" is a perfect example of a fairly negative review that was still *good*. While it had plenty of constructive criticism, it also had its share of suggestions and information that gave me plenty to run with that made my arc far stronger. It was also fairly personable.

Since then, I've had several other reviews that -- positive or negative -- all contributed something new to my arc that made it better.

Unfortunately, not everyone that reviews arcs understands that. They see the fact that they've established their little corner of the CoH world as license to make fun of things they don't like or agree with, to ridicule them and treat the creator with condescension and disdain. They *are* the Simon Cowell's of these boards, and they *can* learn a lesson from people like Glazius, Airhead, Police Woman, Venture (on most occasions ) and others like them. They could be just as constructive, just as personable. They simply have no desire to do so because they like to bask in their Internet anonymity and stroke their egos by playing like they're superior.

The thickness of my skin has nothing to do with it. I don't hold any grudges. Bad reviews by bad reviewers are all part of the game. But, I won't simply shut up and pretend they don't exist just to make them, their fans, or anyone else happy.

By the way, I've changed both arcs' status from "Asking for Feedback" to "Work in Progress." Several of the potential problems that Glazius pointed out are the result of my having acted on suggestions and missed ramifications of those actions. They'll stay "Works in Progress" until I find all the hiding glitches.

That doesn't invalidate my desire for feedback and reviews, though. Keep 'em coming.

[ QUOTE ]
Tonight's arc: The Consequences of War, Pt. I (227331). Verdict - ****. Review in MA Forums Thread.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks very much for the constructive feedback, Glazius. I've replied to your review in my thread, and I'm headed straight to the MA from here to make some changes. *This* folks, is what a real review should do -- provide feedback that a creator can work with, as opposed to feedback that beats them over the head and does it's best to ridicule.

Kudos, Glazius, and thanks again.

[ QUOTE ]
Something about the mission complete clue seems a little weird - aren't the Rikti winning BECAUSE they can do things like plant bombs under targets of opportunity? It's also odd to hear about how bad something will be after I've already stopped it.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'll take another look at the clue, but it *is* a war, after all. One win doesn't mean things suddenly become all sunshine and springtime. That's the point of the arc.

[ QUOTE ]
...you know, I get the point just fine that we can't understand the Rikti language yet without being hammered by twelve bubbles of extended character set. If the patrols have to vocalize, can it just be one of them?

[/ QUOTE ]
This, folks, shows the difference between a *good* review and something else. Feedback that's constructive and actually makes sense. I've had a couple of them already, and they've made huge differences in the quality of my arcs. Good point, Glazius. Consider the Rikti dialogue halved.

[ QUOTE ]
Weirdly enough the computer that takes the key is surface-side in the office. The mission completes after I free the second ally. Is there some way to force it to the back of the mission?

[/ QUOTE ]
There are times where the limitations of the MA drive me batshi-. I've debated about forcing this to the back, but since the firewall-blocked computers fall randomly, I really hate making it so predictable. I'll double check the settings on the fake-outs and see if it's optional. If so, then the character can choose to ignore the rest of the computers once he/she finds the file.

[ QUOTE ]
A simple courier run. what could go wrong? ... Man, how many people keep doing this? Battles Can Start While Heroes Aren't There. Preten ding they are just doesn't fly.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've completely re-worked this mission since you ran it. We know in advance that the Rikti are attacking, which is why the player's character is being sent instead of a less experienced hero. We also know the battles are already ongoing. I also dumped the Rikti patrols entirely.

[ QUOTE ]
Ah, that's why the Vanguard are getting their butts handed to them by the Rikti. They're customs. Nice look, plausibly retro.

[/ QUOTE ]
For this comment alone, you've won my undying adoration. I *just* introduced my "Original Vanguard" group after a rather nasty chat involving a couple of more scathing reviews that did point out that the modern Vanguard would have been anachronistic. You're the first to see them.

[ QUOTE ]
You should be aware that the "jeering" animation loop has a part in it where the character jumps up and down like a monkey. I'm seeing the doc's guards doing it.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah... I need to find a different animation. I wish there was more variety.

[ QUOTE ]
Lazon's briefing in the final mission needs some damn paragraph breaks. I realize he's in a bit of a hurry but I still need to understand him... So the navbar goes "5 Heroes to Find, find Heroname, find Heroname, find Heroname, 1 Hero to Find". I think you want to consolidate 'em a little more...The mind controller's find clue seems to indicate she's going off on her own, like Mr. Shine did, but she follows me around... Kinda ruins t he impact of the multi-click clue here when you get it after the first objective you interact with... Huh. Okay, judging from the ally clues the mind controller and Gordon are supposed to run off and Mr. Shine is supposed to stick with me. But this isn't what's actually happening.


[/ QUOTE ]
I'll take a look at these.

[ QUOTE ]
Escort dude should probably have a different group name than "Cimeroran". He ain't, is he?

[/ QUOTE ]
One of the great things about I15 was the addition of a little customizability to standard NPCs, giving us another tool to "create" our own NPCs without having to make another memory-eating custom. In order to free enough energy for the "Original Vanguard" group, I had to dump a custom NPC in each arc and replace him and her with a modified standard. Unfortunately, you're stuck with the original group designation. Prince Nigel IV came from the Cimeroran NPC set - thus, I'm stuck with him being "Cimeroran." It's one of those MA limitations I'll live with.

[ QUOTE ]
Hmm. Nice work on the ice hero, really looks like just a pile of see-through polygons.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks, I think. On the chance that was meant as a compliment, I can't take credit for this one. My wife designed her and a couple others, but Translucent Girl was the only one I had enough memory to be able to use. The design is really nice, as are all of my better half's costume designs.

[ QUOTE ]
But, uh, this office has Hellion trappings all over the place. Yeah, I know, there's a terrible dearth of buildings on fire that don't have a bunch of Hellion stuff or low-level gang graffiti laying around.

[/ QUOTE ]
Best I could do within the limits of the MA.

[ QUOTE ]
Storyline - ****. The only thing I really take issue here with is the whole "translator" plotline. Rather than them being a Paragon product, the Rikti seem to have developed them on their own, to communicate with the Lost in the years after the war if nothing else. Just having it kind of activate when I hit the right panel on a battlesuit seems a bit weird. Maybe the subplot that gets me distracted can be about some other side-effect of the psionic communications?

[/ QUOTE ]
I missed where the translators were a Paragon product. Do you recall where you saw that so I can look it up? If so, <insert muted cursing here> I'll look into making changes. Was this the only reason it dropped from 4 to five stars?

[ QUOTE ]
Design - ***. The fourth mission was rather a confusing mess as I've documented. The clues looked to be at odds with who was actually following me and who was running for the nearest exit-like substance. Completing the second mission without even going "inside the Rikti base" as it were also seems off.

[/ QUOTE ]
Like I said, I'll look at map placement and see if I can at least force it (and the decoys) back into the Rikti tunnels. I'm also going to clean up the confusing dialogue. Was that all that dropped this to 3 stars?

[ QUOTE ]
Overall - ****. I'm not sure what to do about mission 4, source of my animosity. Obviously there are upper floors that I can't get into for... some reason, but just listening to the hostages and reading the clues gives me the impression that entirely the wrong people are staying behind to help me.

[/ QUOTE ]
Part of my goal is to introduce six particular heroes. You'll see why in the second arc. Early versions of the arc had them all introduced in the first two missions, and then recurring later. Unfortunately, that was way to many NPC heroes and way too much firepower. The player character became almost redundant, and boy did I hear about *that*.

So I powered them down and spread them out with just one appearance each in order to redirect the focus more on the player character. While having Captain Superior and Energy Blastion helping in the attack on the base would have been more tactically sound, part of the problem with war is that you don't always have the option of having the best tools at your disposal. That's why the player character's there to help -- a better tool, perhaps?

In any case, thank you VERY much for the constructive and friendly critique. I'll be adding you to my list of people that could teach the Simon Cowell wannabes how to do a review.

Now you can see why marriage is bliss.

Seriously, though, Elizabeth shored up several other things I'd meant to say in the pevious post, but left out because I was late to work. Rather than re-address the points she made so eloquently, I'll just say a couple things in regard to a couple of specific critiques/suggestions.

First, as a result of E's repeated suggestion and comments made in Talen_Lee's thread, I *have* removed the reference to the SOLUS Foundation's web site. I did *not* include it as a plug, any more than I included the reference to to Paragon City: Alen Invasion as a plug for CoH's site. They were both included as reference for people that wanted more background on the events and characters involved -- that's all.

Second, as a result of a bit of critical feedback on the part of FredrikSvanberg (again in Talen_Lee's thread) and a constructive suggestion by Airhead, I've created an "Original Vanguard" group using another CoH hero organization as its base. The premise is simply that, in its original incarnation, Vanguard had yet to avail itself of the Impervium armor or high tech/magical weaponry. They were simply doing good to recruit people to fill their more primitive uniforms and throw them into the fight. As a result, the organizational structure was different as well.

True, it's playing with canon a little, but the original Vanguard is never really addressed in specifics, and my group adheres to both known canon as well as established history regarding most such groups during war time.

I haven't had time to see if I can come up with the memory to actually *use* them, yet, but I hope to do so tonight.

Thank you very much, Frederick. I appreciate that.

Having just been involved in your typical negative critique "conversation" (as it were), I think maybe it's time I try to put "The Consequences of War" in perspective.

CoW is written for players/characters who want to feel "heroic," as opposed to those who want to feel "self-important." If I remain true to the canon established regarding the Rikti War (which I have as much as the restrictions of the MA will allow), and if I remain true to the realities of war, then none of our heroes can "save the world" in these arcs.

In fact, Statesman didn't save the world as far as Paragon City's canon is concerned.

According to established City of Heroes history, 4/5 of the heroes alive at the time of the Rikti War were killed. That's 8 out of ten. This war was just like any other war, and that is what I'm trying to convey in CoW.

Not everyone can be a General, and CoW is not about Generals. It is about the heroes in the trenches. It is the "Saving Private Ryan" of CoH, as my wife has said. Because that is the story I'm trying to tell, I had to use heroes I could kill. I also had to create characters for this story that were not so much larger than life, while still making them top rung -- as best as I could.

It was a difficult balance, and one that I had a lot of input on from a variety of sources, including several reviewers who were not always kind, but who did understand what I was trying to accomplish and provided excellent ideas toward accomplishing that.

I am still trying to find that balance, or at least tweak it, because in order for CoW to be a success -- to work -- the player has to care enough about "my" heroes to make their sacrifice one they feel, as people did when watching "Saving Private Ryan."

As I've said, these aren't arcs for people that want their characters to save the world. They aren't arcs for anti-heroes or villains (which is why I've set the morality to "Heroic.") They aren't arcs for farmers or for people that play AE missions solely for the challenge (though they are challenging). They are Story Formatted Mission Arcs (SFMA), with a goal in mind.

As such, there are things that I can't change, as one reviewer and his supporters have suggested. I have scaled back the NPCs as much as I can, but I still have to give them enough face time, and heroic credibility, to make the player believe their sacrifice is worthy. If a player wants his character to save the world, to be the General, I can never "fix" the arc to satisfy that player because it would no longer be what I want it to be.

Because of this, I've been accused of "ignoring" feedback simply because I don't like it. That is just not the case. It's simply a matter of, you really *can't* please everyone all the time, so you have to choose who you are trying to please.

In short, play "Consequences of War" with an understanding that it's about war in the trenches. It's about sacrifice and cost. It is NOT about saving the world. Hero 1 and his crew do that. These heroes only died trying their hardest to let Hero 1 do that.

Some heroes are just that way.

[ QUOTE ]
You massively overestimate the impact I can have on anything.

[/ QUOTE ]
I wasn't only taking in consideration your personal rating, so I overestimated nothing. After 12 ratings, my arc had 4 stars. Whether it was a low four or a high four, I have no idea since we can't see the raw score. Factor in the 2 stars you say you gave it, plus the negative mini-review that followed yours in this thread (which could have also garnered 1 or 2 stars), and the ratings of any other persons of similar mind to yours that may follow your thread, yet not comment, and there stands the potential for an easy drop to 3 stars.

Did it happen, no, since it appears I've had a couple others of opposite mindset that have since rated it well -- but the potential was there.

Actually, I take constructive criticism to heart quite often, and have made several changes to both arcs as a result of other reviews on these boards. It was simply that Talen_Lee's review gave me nothing to sink my teeth into. It expressed his opinion, which contradicts diametrically with other opinions of equal value.

FredrickSvanburg's brief critique, on the other hand -- while negative -- provided constructive suggestions that I could deal with if I had the memory available to deal with them. I can't argue that both Vanguard and the Rikti were outfitted and equipped differently during the first war. To create completely new, First Rikti War, versions of them, however, would leave me no room to even type my title. We have to work within the limits given us by the MA. I chose not to create two completely new groups so I could use the space for other things.

I haven't logged on to see where my rating has gone, but I'm afraid that its 4 stars have probably been dinged fairly badly. Such is life, I guess.

[ QUOTE ]
Arc 227331 - The Consequences Of War, Part I
Level Range: 30-54

I had a funny anecdote to lead with, but [censored] it...

[/ QUOTE ]
Edit - I don't typically do this, but I've deleted this post. While I disagree with Talon_Lee for a variety of reasons I've discussed in the "Consequences of War" thread, referring to him as the "Simon Cowell" of CoH and making other defensive comments accomplished nothing. So, I'll simply edit this to say, "Thank you very much for the review" and leave it at that.

I won't have time to run one of yours for a day or two, so I'll just sit back and watch your thread for a bit, but fair warning, I'll be begging a review for The Consequences of War (arc #s noted in my signature) once I do.

Folks, when you modify one of the lists, please make sure you use the most current version. Not only do people add all new arcs, but others unpublish and republish arcs, changing their arc numbers at times. If you use an old version, you leave out any changes that were made since the version you choose to quote. I just had to fix mine.

Thanks.

On a different note, I just read the post about adding a "Farms" category, and the new list with said addition. I may be wrong, but -- technically -- aren't farms still verboten by the powers that be? Yeah, I know there are millions of them out there that are being conveniently ignored by the Devs at the moment, but if I'm right, wouldn't advertizing them here be a little risky? No skin off my nose either way, since I'm not a fan of farms, but all for one and one for all, huh?

Genres A-L

AE System
---
5th Anniversary Flashback Smackdown (126896) -- Neutral
Bare Knuckles of Rage (9304)
'Captain Dynamic, the Great, Faces the Great Face' - Tryouts (190069) -- Heroic
Death for Dollars! -- Neutral
Mission Architect Playable Tutorial (28470)
Signal to Noise (67277) -- Neutral
Welcome to Architect Entertainment -- Neutral

Character/Supergroup Origins
---
A Hero is made, Not Born (20863) -- Heroic
A Mother's Nightmare (6955) -- Heroic
A Rose's Thorns (113224) -- Heroic
Birth of a Fossil -- Heroic
Jumping in Feet First (1345) -- Heroic
Midnight Bells Toll -- Villainous
New Flame Rising (161066) -- Heroic
Noah Reborn (2370) -- Heroic
Polar Emergence Neutral Government User Interface Network (PENGUIN) (29205) -- Heroic
Secret Origins(Tech) The Snake Women of Epsilon V (42221) -- Heroic
The Amazing Rat Race (1144) -- Heroic

Classic Super-Hero/Super-Villain
---
A Crusher Crimewave #1 : Crisis at The Citadel (50271)
A Crusher Crimewave #2 : Escape from The Zig! (83458)
A Crusher Crimewave #3 : The Fall of Mocker (123613)
A Show to Die For! (30645) -- Heroic
Check... and Mate (15095) -- Heroic
Deadly Sins! (99366)
In The Shadow of Statesman (1160) -- Neutral
Marketing Opportunity (83747) -- Villainous
Paradox Paradox (69221) -- Heroic
Sidekicks Can Be A Pain In The Cape (28430)
Teen Phalanx Forever! (67335) -- Heroic
THE BOMBER (16607) -- Heroic
This Life Immortal (5756) -- Heroic
To Save A Single World (83744) -- Heroic
'Tis Nobler in the Mind -- Heroic

Comedy
---
The String Thief (15726) -- Neutral
Mean People (16690) -- Neutral
The Extadine Lab (2595) -- Heroic
MacGuffin Delivery Service (1567) -- Villainous
ParaCon (1684) -- Heroic
The new and improved Lord Recluse Strike Force -- Villainous
The Fire Bunnies - Neutral
You Say It's Your Birthday! (3630) -- Neutral
Trademark Infringement (2220) -- Heroic
Hail to the King (34640) -- Neutral
Walk On the Wild Side (3580) -- Neutral
Shirley You Jest (25474) -- Neutral
The Invasion of the Bikini Clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space! (61013) -- Heroic
Gnomish Madness (30204) -- Heroic
Doctor Nadir and the Hellion Heist (49661) -- Heroic
Laugh? I Thought I'd DIE! -- Heroic
The P.U.G. Strike force (35585) -- Villianous
A Translator is the Wind or the Thunder in Turns (2936) -- Heroic
What's in a Name? -- Villainous
None More Black, Dude! (86312) -- Neutral
Rise of the Drakule -- Neutral
Return of the Revenge of the Son of Drakule Part 2: First Blood -- Neutral
Martian Chimpanzees and the Cyborg Cheerleaders of DOOM! (69947) -- Heroic
Daytime Divas (94504)
Death to Disco! (84420) -- Neutral
Too Many Bunnygirls! (101165) -- Neutral
Invasion on Earth BX1132! (98943) -- Neutral (poster version B)
Ee=Ai-Ee-Ai-Oh! (3662) -- Neutral
The foul-mouthed Handyman! (1076) -- Neutral
City of Norms (132994) -- Neutral
Killing The Meow Farm (141625) -- Neutral
Shortbow - (143566) -- Heroic
Jerk Hackers! (162482) --Heroic

Comedy/Drama
---
Kidnapping an Idol (136188) -- Neutral
Fashion Apocalypse (14840) -- Neutral
The Running of the Bulls (29973) -- Heroic
A Super Team is Born -- Heroic
Cause of How Some Silly Stealed My Wings (1481) -- Neutral
How to Survive a Robot Uprising (12669) --
Dr. Duplicate's Dastardly Dare -- Neutral
It's a Nice Day for a White Wedding (9059) -- Neutral
TURG FICTION: Ghost in the Machine, Act I -- Heroic
Rum Runners of Bloody Bay (3691) -- Heroic
Have a Blap, Blap, Blappy Day Kids! (2019)
The Toypocalypse! (49280) -- Heroic
Fishing for Fame with Red Herring (66861) -- Heroic
Putting Out Fires: A Corporate Satire (20100) -- Villainous
The Rise and Refall of Pets'n'Things.com (1061) -- Heroic
The Cat's in the Cradle (8776) -- Villainous
Females for Hire (110723) -- Neutral
Freaks, Geeks and Men in Black (161629) -- Heroic
Death by Snoo-Snoo! (247372) - Heroic


Crime/Gangs
---
Bricked Electronics (2180) -- Heroic
The Bravuran Jobs (16809) -- Villainous
The Black Flag Is On The Rise (Pirates!) -- Villainous
Win the 2009 Freak-Lympics (2150) -- Villainous
Ninja Crimewave! (2142) -- Heroic
The Internet is for Crime (53385)[/url] -- Villainous
Plastic Pistol Peril (1135) -- Heroic
Friends in Need (Of Body Parts) (31005) -- Villainous
A Little RnR (17523) -- Heroic click for Promotional Poster
Mechanical Mayhem (76712) - -Villainous
Females for Hire (110723) -- Neutral
Battlin' Tom's Murder Extravaganza! (99803) -- Villainous
Meet the Demon Spawn (151099) -- Heroic
Slash DeMento and the Stolen Weapons (100045) -- Heroic
[ZQ] Power Play (187269) -- Villainous
Fatale Attraction - Part 1 of 3 (181264) -- Heroic
Fatale Deception - Part 2 of 3 (227466) -- Heroic
Fatale Corruption - Part 3 of 3 (232783) -- Heroic
Whitehawks (113811) -- Heroic


Drama
---
A Flame the Burns Bright (112548)
Clonus, Parts 1 & 2 (21499) -- Heroic
Digital Love (3571) -- Neutral
Matchstick Women (3369) -- Heroic
Of Mentors and Legacy (1589) -- Heroic
The Conciliators: Simone (4010) -- Heroic
The Fan Club -- Heroic

Farms
---

Global Domination
---
Axis and Allies (1379) -- Villainous

Global Destruction
---
The Twilight of this Blue Orb (98529) -- Villainous

Heist
---
Celebrity Kidnapping (1388) -- Villainous
Easy Money (31490) -- Villainous
The Great Diamond Heist (96169) -- Villainous

Historical (Realistic)
---
Wrinkle in Time (68920) -- Heroic

Historical (CoH Lore)
---
Origins - Volume 1 (57077) -- Heroic
The Consequences of War (227331 and 241496)
The War on Superadine (7959) -- Heroic
[ZQ] The Once and Future King (71601) -- Heroic

Holiday
---
Battle of 15 April (72140) -- Neutral
City of Ho Ho Ho (18775) -- Heroic
Hectic Holidays (36999) -- Heroic
Santa's Missing List (34961)
Santa's Workshop of Misfit Toys (134140) -- Heroic

Horror
---
Astoria in D Minor (41565) -- Heroic
Creepy Crawlers (82553)
Dark Dreams (3615)
D!E COUNT DADDY MACULA D!E! (10119) -- Heroic
Duality (84105) -- Heroic
Don't Play With The Dead (31813) -- Neutral
Hunting the Hunters (93362) -- Villainous
I Will Dance On Your Grave (92630)
Lights, Camera, Scream! (68627)
Movie Monster Madness.. (102058)
Project: Perilous - Into the Chthonian Pit (#3586) -- Neutral
Small Fears -- Heroic
Something Comes to Yarmouth (58812) -- Heroic
The Amulet of J'gara (1709) -- Heroic
The Children of Astoria (217499) (masearch link)
The Zombie Apocalypse Task Force: Something wicked this way comes.

Large-Scale Crisis
---
A Warrior's Friend -- Heroic
Alpha and Omega (60015) -- Heroic
Bleed the Freak (6919) -- Heroic
Flight of the Valkyries - Precursor (20272) -- Neutral
Is it Live or is it Memory-X (70210) -- Heroic
The All-Seeing Eye (57352) -- Heroic
The Clockwork War (18672) -- Heroic
This Is War, Part I - the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz -- Neutral
War of the Worlds - The Anakim Invasion - Part 1 (15006) -- Neutral
War of the Worlds - The Anakim Invasion - Part 2, The Terran Revolt (46711) -- Neutral
Win the Past, Own the Future -- Heroic
Akhdar Blood Arc: 247198