Dalghryn

OK, I just published version 9 of the second arc - Now referred to as "The Casualties of War." The third mission (originally the "lower stories" of the hospital) is now set back in the ruins of the SOLUS Collective's base as shown in the first arc. The player character, Captain Superior, Billy, Commissioner G and Energy Blastion are supposed to meet Alistair McKnight (Ashley's father) there so he can teleport them directly the hospital (inside in the case of the player character and outside in the case of the four SOLUS members.)

It's been through a couple of play tests, but still probably needs some tweaking. If you play it, please let me know what you think, and where I need fixes (if any.)

Thanks.

Congratulations!

I actually got a few minuutes and checked it out. Yep... farm. <insert heavy sigh here>

Has anyone else notice "Henchman's Revolt" on the 3rd page of the MA? If so, has anyone played it? How in the world has it gotten 825 runs in nine days? I haven't been able to be around much lately, and don't have time to run it soon, so I figured I'd ask the experts.

I owe you one, PW. Your suggestions gave me a great idea. I'm going to combine all your ideas and mine. I'm pretty stoked about my idea for the new mission. If I can pull of the logistics, I think it'll be a significant improvement.

...and that's all I have to say about that (for now ).

Police Woman, thanks very much for the input. You raise some very good points. While I was about 3/4 of the way finished with my proposed revision, I think I'll think on what you said. I'm not so much worried about your final point. I can get around that with the proper dialogue. The point about the dissonance between the magic and tech makes a lot of sense, though.

In that vein, however, wouldn't stopping the action in mid-stream for a down time mission, be just as dissonant? You've just come from two battles (not including the five from the previous arc) and you know there are pitched battles waiting. I like the thought, but... Hmm, something to ponder.

I'm through making the technical changes to a local copy of CoW II, Mission #3, and am working on dialogue and text changes in that mission and the two on either side of it. I'm still not certain I'll actually *make* the change, though. If it really stands a chance of improving the ratings for the second arc (which generally run about 50/50 4 to 5 stars), and people think the story becomes stronger, I will. Otherwise, why bother?

The revision removes the first "floors" from the hosptital as they're depicted in Mission #3. Instead, I've created a mission where Captain Superior realizes that the Rikti are too thick in and around the hospital. There's no way the group can either get to him or get inside the hospital in time to help given the number of Rikti and Rikti armaments they'd have to fight through.

So, he incorporates the help of a Midnight Squad mage who will be meeting the player character and Commissioner G, Billy Bad Boy, and Energy Blastion in a small section of a recently uncovered part of Oranbega (unearthed by the Rikti). Once the player character is there, he has to find the other heroes, locate the mage, keep the CoT at bay, and protect the mage while he converts one of the CoT portals for his use -- sending the three SOLUS members to Cap's location and the player character to the upper floors of the hospital to finish out Missions 4 and 5.

It all fits continuity well, from the Midnight Squad to the fact that the Rikti accidentally uncovered parts of Oranbega (which had pretty much become rumor or urban legend to that point) while they tunnelled their lairs, and adds another twist, plus some enemies besides the Rikti. It also eliminates the semi-duplication of the two-missions for multiple stories of the same building which I also used in the first arc.

Thoughts? Is this better than the current Mission #3, or should I just leave it alone? The arc is currently resting on the 4th page of the MA, so I can't complain, but if it can get better, I'd like to do it.

OK, not that Dr. Aeon's previous choices hadn't gone a long way in restoring my faith in humanity... or at least in the Dev's Choices... But THIS one is simply awesome! I'm almost as tickled as if I'd gotten it myself. Very well deserved, Bubbawheat!

Thanks to Policewoman's most recent review (or re-review, rather), I've made a few minor changes to Pt. 1. More significantly, however, I've completely changed the map in the final mission and upped the ante a bit in regard to the ferocity of the battle. Gone is the Hellions burning map and in is the burning tech map I didn't even know existed until PW mentioned it.

Since I'm still strapped for time, I really haven't gotten to play test it much, so if anyone does, please let me know what you think.

I'm still nickeling and diming away on the big change for mission 3 (and some before and after text in the two missions on either side of it) in Pt. 2. I have no clue when I'll get the changes published, though.

In the mean time, it's Christmas Eve and I'm about to start putting together the baby's toys. Everyone have a wonderful Christmas!

Nitpickiness aside, I did get some good direction, which is the name of the game. I did have a couple questions you might help me with, though...

1 - What is this burning tech map you mention? I can't find it.

2 - Same goes for Brinell. Not only can't I find the Brinell character itself, but I can't find anything close. Any directions would be great.

I do plan on ramping up the action in the first two missions, just as I plan on making a major change to one of the missions in the 2nd arc, but it'll probably have to wait until Going Rogue comes out and we get that memory adjustment.

Anyway, thanks again.

Policewoman,

Thanks for the re-review. You make some valid points, and a couple of good catches that'll help me fine tune once I can figure out how to get past my 99.96% memory used problem. That said, half of what you commented on was exactly the way it was the first time you ran the arc and you didn't mention it then. Either you were being generous the first time, youve become even more critical since then, or a second play through provides new perspective.

A couple of quick notes and I'll be off. First, you comment about mission 1's objectives not being mentioned by Lazon, however he does state, "...you should deal with anything dangerous and make sure no ranking Rikti are left standing to report in..." It may not be exact, but I think that the dialogue gets the message across without becoming stilted.

Regarding Captain Superior talking to the Rikti without a translator... With all due respect, my father-in-law is a Vietnam War veteran. During hand-to-hand combat, he would yell at them in English without a care if they understood. It's pretty common, in most conflicts that involve different languages, actually.

And, speaking of war, while I understand your point about letting the player decide if an enemy is dead or just unconscious, this is a war scenario -- arguably the most accurate one written in CoH in terms of reality -- to try and skirt the death issue flies in the face of what I'm doing.

Re. the translator, I tend to think that it's laid out fairly well that the tech recovered from the battle sit is some ind of translator and they're trying to figure it out. When Lazon mentions that "we may not understand their spoke language," it's because they don't, and still have no translator to do so.

Is five false glowy computers really, too many? The entire premise is that the hacking device needs to work through the Rikti firewalls a little at a time until it can succeed. Five is nothing, really, and really pretty realistic.

As for the contents of the file, the dialogue and text establishes that it needs to be translated and, in fact, is translated between missions -- leading to the next mission.

I could go on, but you and I are the only ones that'll even read this, and you have better things to do. Suffice it to say that, though you admit to nit-pickidom several times, several of your other crits seem equally micro-critical. I kind of feel like I'm being beaten with a nit-picking bat. Regardless, and as I said, once I can manipulate the memory a bit, you did give me a few things to fix and it's greatly approcieated.

I always welcome feedback on my two arcs. Nothing's ever perfect. See my signature, and thanks for the time.

I'm baaaaaack...

After having read the comments on the various runs that were made while I was gone, I have a new question for those of you that have played both arcs:

Does the similarity between the 4/5 missions in Part 1 (the two stories of the SOLUS HQ) and the 3/4 missions of Part 2 (the two stories of the hospital) cause you heartburn? I've had a couple people comment that the two arcs were two similar, but that's the only real similarity I see. I may look at making some changes, but only if people that have played it that I trust to give me accurate feedback think it might be helpful.

Thanks, Airhead... and for the record, I voted for Captain Dynamic the Great... as the best one.

Sorry for the delay in posting. I'm getting ready to leave town for a couple weeks. Fair warning to anyone that's watching -- my Internet access will be sporadic at best, but I will have a laptop with me.

My two arcs would fill the bill, though in a convoluted sense since all the characters appear to be dead at the end. Some of them eventually find their way back to the realm of the living and are active now. Others, not so much.

OK, I'll bite. First, have the materials in this couch been approved by the FDA, or should I talk to one of my super group's empaths after our little... chat... is over?

Second, are there any plans in the works to expand the number of missions an arc is allowed to have from five to... well... something more than five?

Oh, and since that's really two questions, you can plead the Fifth on the first one.

Sweet! 'Grats Bubbawheat, well deserved stickiness.

I guess it's kind of old news, seeing as how it's been two days (not to mention the eleventy-bazillion "Consequences of War" banners you scrolled past to get here), but CoW won the first annual Player Awards for "Best Multi-Part Story!" Yowza!

Thanks go to:

MRCaptainMan, who nominated me... it... them... and who graciously took second place with his wonderfull arcs "The Audition,"

Bubbawheat for putting the whole show together,

Airhead, just because,

All the other creators, both in the Multi-part category as well as all the rest, for putting me in such incredible company,

Everyone who voted for me... it... them..., and most especially...

My wife, who's put up with me from the beginning, helping me playtest, revise, and generally make a jerk of myself at times. I know she prays they don't increase the memory with GR.

On a totally different note, if any of the winners want to use the award graphic for an avatar or in their signature and are "graphically challenged," feel free to let me know and I'll be happy to re-size it or make modifications for you.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled discussion.

Re. Authors voting for themselves or not: I think it should be set up to be all of one or the other. In other words, either authors should not be allowed to vote for themselves, or they should automatically be considered as having voted for their own arc without the option to change it. With all respect, this issue became a gamemanship thing, and every effort should be made to eliminate gamemanship in future awards.

Re. The nomination process: If this is intended as a contest for all creators, then I think nominations should be restricted to other peoples' arcs. Otherwise, primarily forum arcs will be nominated (by their authors) and a lot of good stuff will be missed.

Re. Previous award winners: I may be opening another can of wrigglers here, but I think previous winners of any kind should be ineligible. I'm all for spreading the wealth and recognizing arcs that haven't been recognized since there's so little recognition to be had. Dev's Choices, Hall of Fame, Guest Authors, and Previous Player Award Winners have had some spotlight already. Shine it on other people.

Re. The voting process: Unfortunately, public voting can devolve into a popularity contest, either deliberately or accidentally. If one creator is a member of a big SG, for instance, and word gets out about his/her entry, you can get a dozen votes for that creator's arc from people that only vote in that category. Ideally, the voting should be conducted by a committee chosen in advance, however the amount of work necessary would be insane.

Mandating voters to cast in at least two categories could be an option, but that has its problems, too. I'm not certain what the solution would be, but we don't want this to become a popularity contest instead of a contest based on the merits of the arcs. If public voting does continue, however, I think it should be by PM to Bubba or his designees. That would eliminate other issues of gamesmanship. And, looking back at whether or not authors should vote for their own work, it would also make it much less problematic for them to do so (or not) if their decisions aren't being scrutinized in public.

Gotta feed the baby and get ready for work. Thanks for the forum, Bubba.

Bubba... This one's for you:



Edit: Thanks to Airhead, I can actually do images now. I expect to see this posted somewhere prominently, Bubba.

Bubba, you should get an award for putting this on. I think it actually did more for morale than the "official" awards did. I'm honored to be in such esteemed company, and even more honored to have the privilege of interacting with such a great group of people. Kudos to everyone!

For the record, I had such a rash of runs and comments the last few days that I thought the MA was going to break. That rush was worth the price of admission. I hope everyone else had similar experiences. You guys and gals rock.