Dalghryn

You know... I'm disappointed that neither of my CoW arcs made the cut, too. I'd love to know what mine didn't have (or did have) that these did (or didn't). It's taken me a day to get past that (and, trust me, my wife can testify to my lousy mood last night). But the bottom line is, we all recognize the quality of many of the arcs that got nomination and -- personal preferences or feelings aside -- we should also recognize that those arcs that may not be our favorites have all received very positive feedback from some sectors.

Bad mouthing the creators of these arcs, or the arcs themselves, is simply bad form. It reeks of sour grapes.

So, for my part... congratulations to each and every one of you. Well deserved, and well done.

I'd like to toss "The Consequences of War - Part 1" #227331 into the hat. Thanks a bunch for making this opportunity available for everyone.

In case you aren't already aware, CoW is one of several arcs nominated for "Best Multi-Arc" in the first annual Players Awards (located here: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=195353).

Check out that thread and, if you're a fan of CoW and think it deserves some kudos, feel free to vote for it... but please be fair and check out its competition if you can. They're all excellent arcs.

Thanks for the vote and kind comments. I certainly can't argue about the order since I was one of the ones that nominated The Audition. Well deserved 1st Place call.

I like "Players' Choice," myself.

And as for *this* players choices for Best Short Arc (Yes, I actually had time to play through them all since my wife took the baby shopping. )...

1st place - Forget the Rose, Send Me the Thorns #8925 @Hydrophidian
2nd place - Celebrity Kidnapping #1388 @PW

Um... Thanks, Bubba. It's actually just an idea. I was thinking that maybe the winners would like something they could post in their signature or use as an avatar, or whatever. Just something I puttered together while the baby napped.

If I had time to run another one of yours, I'd hold you to our chat and ask for a re-play of CoW Part 1. Guess you're lucky it'll be awhile before I have time to do much more than check the boards a few times a day.

Bubba, please don't take my post as being critical of your efforts or of the contest. That wasn't my intent in the slightest. I was just being my long-winded self in explaining why I probably won't vote unless the baby gives me and the lovely wife more CoH time.

I think I'll wait until everything's posted before I vote, if I vote. Hopefully I'll have time to run one or two more of the arcs between now and then. As it stands, I've only played one arc in the Best DO Range category, so I'd only be voting for it, and I'd be abstaining from voting in the Best Multi-Multi Arc category since my arcs have been nominated. I'd also be hesitant to let my vote be swayed by a play of an arc that's been significantly changed since I last played it. It wouldn't be fair.

You know, I may just abstain from voting entirely. I don't feel qualified, and I hate to vote against arcs I haven't run. I thought the voting was going to be conducted by people that had taken the time to play through the current version of each arc -- which kind of amazed me given the amount of work involved. I see that I was mistaken -- and it's quite understandable why that's the case -- but if people are going to vote, they should really be informed or it's nothing more than a popularity contest. Since I'm *not* informed enough, I'd be hypocritical if I voted.

I know Mercedes global and she hasn't done an MA yet. I wasn't aware that Gail played the game. That's just sweet! And, who's Jim Butcher?

Thus far, other writers that play the game that are MIA as Guest Authors are:

Troy Hickman
Gail Simone
Mercedes Lackey
Jim Butcher

Any others?

Not to derail the thread, or seem like a fanboi, but I *am* a comic book afficianado... afficie... affic... um... collector-kind-of-guy. "Fables" is unlike anything else. It's a totally different take on all the characters from all the kids stories and fables. Many people that aren't fans of most comics have enjoyed his series. My wife swears by it.

That's not to say his arc is guaranteed to be any better than many of the ones we discuss, play, and/or review regularly. Not having played it, yet, I'd have no clue. I'll vouch for his writing talent outside of CoH in any case.

Just saying.

Oh, and to further muddy the waters and make myself seem even more brown of the nose, Scott Kurtz's "PvP" is a really fun series. It's often hilarious. He has his own website, as well as a comic series reprinted from the site (oh, and an Eisner Award as well). Doesn't mean he can write his way out of the proverbial paper back when faced with the same restrictions we are in the MA, but I'd bet his arc's not going to suck.

I know a lot of folks feel like the devs are short changing player-creators when it comes to the promise of Dev's Choice awards. Heck, I'm with them. But this *is* a game about comic book heroes. Giving some special recognition to award-winning comic book writers who play the game with us just makes sense. Now, where's Troy Hickman's arc?

I think you should stick to one thread -- perhaps editing the original post as new information is determined. Keeping track of multiple threads will be a pain for you and anyone else that wants to watch how things pan out.

Is it safe to assume everyone knows who Bill Willingham is, or should one of us that read his stuff religiously fill folks in?

P.S. I guess that explains what you were doing when I interrupted you earlier this evening, Bubba.

OK... Here's the scoop. As I've mentioned before, I'm very time-challenged. I have a list of arcs a mile long I either feel I owe play time to or really need to play just based on what I've read in this forum. I honestly believe I'm unqualified to nominate any arcs for this award simply because my nominees - though all excellent arcs in their own right - almost get the nominations by default.

That said, I don't feel that it's fair to abstain given my level of participation in this forum and, more importantly, given the time others have spent reviewing and helping me improve "The Consequences of War." So, with apologies to all the fine arcs I haven't run that may be equally qualified, here are the nominations I'm willing to make for now, unless I find a time loop in the next 24 hours that lets me run some more:

Best TO Range Arc (1-15)

15+ Minute Tutorial - Knowledge is Power #28470 @Paula

Best DO Range Arc (15-25)

Cntrl + Alt + Reset #137561 @Bubbawheat

Best Comedy Arc

Captain Dynamic, the Great, faces the Great Face #190069 @Aehead

Best Short Arc (1-3 missions)

Celebrity Kidnapping #1388 @PW

Best Multi-Part Arc (2+ arcs, list all for this category)

The Audition Parts 1 - 3 and 4 - 6 #221240/221241 @MrCaptainMan

Well, given his history, you might be interested in my arcs (noted in my signature, of course. ) It may be a while before he's high enough, but it's definitely a story about the thick of the first Rikti War and, who knows, maybe he stepped away from his special ops assignment long enough to be part of the heroic effort.

Here's the link to Tangler's review of both parts. My comments follow his review. Happy reading.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showp...6&postcount=43

Tangler,

Thank you, very much, for the review. As you probably know from creating your own arcs, as well as from having reviewed and played many others, the technical aspects of the MA make it difficult to find a balance between over-exposing NPC heroes and giving them enough time (and text) to make them sympathetic. I originally had yet another NPC heroine, but cut her in order to add a little more face time to the others. As it stands, I'm sitting at mid-99% on both arcs memory-wise.

It's an unfortunate fact that, due to the limits of the MA, creating well-established, three dimensional characters is very hard. Typically, the best you can do is 2 1/2 dimensional, with the hopes that they don't come across as too stereotypical. Sometimes you hit, other times... not so well.

As for the excess ambushes, I've had many people say they added depth to the feeling of war, other's have said they're overdone. From what I've read of the Rikti war (and I've read quite a bit), the odds against the heroes were, most times, astronomical. There are only a few tools in the MA that allow a creator to simulate those odds. Ambushes are one of the best. If I were certain that everyone would run it with somewhat higher difficulty setting, I'd scale back on the ambushes, but that was the only way I thought I could feel comfortable with a war simulation.

In any case, thank you, again, for your time and attention. Best of luck to you in honing yours - they're on my to do list as soon as the new baby allows.

Already have this one in the sights.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=194756

I don't think it's so much a matter of a person's enjoyment of the MA depending on getting XP (or double XP) as much as a matter of priorities. Even if folks tend to play MA arcs primarily, a lot of them aren't going to sacrifice relatively rare Double XP time they could be using to work some of their alts up to play non-Double XP arcs that will still be there when the weekend's over - especially with the I16 hit the MA just took to XP anyway. And folks that only occasionally play arcs, or folks that might be thinking about playing them, certainly won't this weekend.

Thus, the MA will see considerably less action this weekend than usual.

P.S. - I'm anagram challenged. What's WAI?

Rather than search eleventy-thousand individual threads, I thought I'd just try to see how many honest creators we have in this forum. Who's submitting arcs (or arc) to the First Annual Architect Awards? I'll pony up, since I haven't been shy:

"Consequences of War - Part 1" - Best In-Canon Story
"Consequences of War - Part 2" - Best Hero Arc

Next?

P.S. - Though I have no control over what folks say here, my intent is just to see what people are submitting and have some fun chat (if anyone's even around thanks to Double XP). I'm really not looking for opinions (good or bad) about an arc's chances. We have enough drama in other threads.