Eva Destruction

How? They cost Influence, which is "hero money," and I'm willing to bet Portal Corp doesn't let average Joe off the street just stroll into the Shadow Shard to buy one.

Different assault rifles for players is a recent thing. Enemies have always had a bunch of guns with one or more assault rifle powers, many of which don't make sense coming out of the same gun.

Um, that should be "tie a young, attractive, seemingly virginal and helpless individual of either gender to railroad track." Female villains demand equal opportunity in tying people to railroad tracks, or we'll punch your face in and eat your puppy. Furthermore, female heroes demand potential love interests to save from railroad tracks, or once again you will get your face punched in (but we'll make sure to find a good home for your puppy.)

And I second, third, and fourth the need for tentacles.

If you play most story-driven content outside the AE you are likely to progress more slowly compared to filler content with the same players. That's why so many people run papers. That doesn't mean running story arcs isn't a viable method of leveling.

So, what you're saying is that the game should cater to herd mentality?

People who are deeply concerned about leveling speed and inf gain run outdoor maps full of easy enemies over and over. Should we petition for all enemies in the game to be melee focused, smash/lethal damage dealers with few resistances and few status effects and debuffs so people will stop avoiding those enemies that aren't?

Except you're still leveling by playing through other people's stories. Not as quickly as you would running papers or TFs with a decent team, but you are still gaining xp, along with inf, and tickets that you can trade in for enhancements, salvage, or recipes, in some cases low-supply high-demand recipes.

It's still a multi-purpose tool. It just isn't the best tool for some people's purposes. If you just want to level, AE isn't the best tool, but it's still a viable tool.

Oh yes, I want a plushy Kronos!

People who want to level have a gazillion options.

People who want to tell stories and make them available to the general game populace have one.

Sorry, don't recall any specific parts, except for the glaring grammatical errors I pointed out in the in-game comments.

I think if he looked sufficiently "generically heroic" he could be easily written off as "just a hero". The big problem I had with him being hazy is that everyone else is very distinct, and the descriptions of the memories are very detailed. There's also the issue that he is a black blob, which usually represents a generic bad guy.

The arc did try to push you toward that choice, yes. I chose the other option mostly because I felt it fit better within the parameters of the contest, needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and all that.

While holding the gun sideways. At least they're not shooting from the hip anymore.

You can die on a Blaster before level 10? Really? That tells me you should reroll. At those levels, enemy damage is so low that Blasters pretty much just pwn everything in their path. They're pretty much easy street until the 30s.

Yep, that's how it's done.

Back in the day I used to just log off when this happened to my /regen. That was before the Sappers got nerfed, and before I stopped bringing the /regen to Malta fights in favor of characters the Sappers couldn't hit.

Hold 'em before they hold you, usually. Don't let them get into melee. And if you do get caught with your breakfrees down, you usually get out of the ten-minute sap-dance by clicking "go to hospital" or "go to base." Defiance 2.0 removed the guaranteed death sentence from the Stun Grenades of Infinity +1, but it doesn't work if you have no end.

This seems to be the case with Nemesis Snipers as well, at least judging by totally unscientific observations made from the ground, way way behind the tank.

I feel it has enough. However I'm not at all opposed to a totally non-combat mission if it helps tell the story. More on this later....
It was fine...or at least not too hard on my normal difficulty of +1/x2 (on a level 28 Claws/WP Scrapper). I don't think there is such a thing as a mission that is "too easy," since we have this lovely difficulty slider that goes all the way up to "just plain silly."
The 15 minutes MIGHT be tight if someone tries to acquire all the allies and keep them, but I managed to find all the objectives in half the time. On one hand, it does add a sense of urgency if you want to succeed. On the other hand, if the timer was extended to 30 minutes there's still plenty to fight if you want to fail.
Yes. More on this later though.

I chose to fail.

Overall I thought this was a lovely arc, very nice story. It does a good job as portraying the CWK as more than just another Archvillain. We already have canon portraying him as a bit of a tragic figure, and this just drives it home. It was sad. I liked the expanded backstory you came up with for him, it was plausible in the context, and even if his knowing Penny as a child is a bit of a stretch, there is nothing in canon that says it didn't happen. The "non-canon" tag does give you some creative license in this sense.

What it needs is some polish. First off, the dialogue. Penny is starting to channel Becky the Tarantula Mistress in places. I would tone down the "like" and "totally." Secondly, there is quite a bit of awkward wording. This thing really needs another editing pass.

I also found the device of the tangible object that allows for a psychic link to be somewhat contrived, along with the way my going into the CWK's head was handled. Yes, he's a powerful psychic, I'll allow for the possibility that he could pull me into his dreamscape, especially if I go willingly. It's just the way the inside of his mind was treated; you went from a quite literal portrayal on the second mission, to a metaphoric-literal thing on the last two. The "step into the light" thing is a bit of a cliche as well.

Now onto the missions themselves:

Mission 1: I don't quite get, if I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with the CWK, why I'm destroying his stuff. Also the objectives were very repetitive. I also don't get how the vahz found the CWK's lair, since it usually takes us three hours of tedium to find it. I get that they're just a device to give me something to do, but as such, they could be handled a bit better.

Mission 2: The CWK ally's stranded and reacquired dialogue talks about needing to save the princess, which makes no sense if I lose him after I save her.

Mission 3: Blue Steel and adult Penny spawn with hostile clockwork. I think they should both be set to spawn alone. This map is small enough and has enough going on that the lack of stuff to fight isn't a problem.

I also don't get why the Hero is a generic black blob. At this point in his memories the CWK didn't hate heroes, so wouldn't he remember a more, well, heroic figure? The rest of the customs are very well done throughout the arc, and I LOVED dream-world Kingy.

Mission 4: The orange text at the end of the clue verges on after-school special. It's really unnecessary if you actually read the rest of the clue. We know the CWK is a supervillain, we know that if he dies, all the clockwork die with him, and a threat to the city is eliminated. On the other hand, the events in the arc make a good case for the insanity defense.

As far as the challenge goes, this is certainly not the way I would have handled it, but whether you met the requirements or not is really up to Dr. Aeon. See, I'm not actually killing the King. I am simply allowing him to commit suicide. Is it really evil to let a supervillain kill himself? Even if his life is so horrible he has to retreat to a fantasy world? Or are you taking the stance that by inaction the player is indirectly killing him?

So in the context of the competition, no, it didn't really work for me, but as an arc, it's very good at the core, just rough around the edges.

No. The running profanity filter is bad enough, since I already type faster than the editor will acknowledge. Grammar and spelling are the author's responsibility, if they're not your strong points, get an outside program or a proofreader.

Extra Dimensional Storage technology has now been upgraded to fit in the palm of your hand.

The Bag of Holding is obsolete now that we have the Glove of Storing.

As for Hammerspace, did Optimus Prime have to deal with redraw animations on his trailer? No. It was there when he needed it and and gone when he didn't.

Zeus Titans before I learned of the barbecue of DOOM that was Ignite. Five minutes later....it's almost dead! Doh, out of insps. *Faceplants*

It's awesomest when it happens with Full Auto.

No love for AR is , but I'm used to the redraw anyway by now. My Archery/Dev will be happy.

As for people complaining about weapons appearing out of thin air, where exactly are you stashing that giant gun/sword/battleaxe in your skintight spandex?

Yeah yeah. Try playing Assault Rifle sometime, then complain.

At least we have Carnies. Ah, Carnies. So squishy. With Defiance 2.0, those Illusionists are good mez badge credit too.

I am sorry if my comments were interpreted as a flame. This was certainly not my intent. The arc was solid (if I pretended I was ten levels higher and had worked with Indigo before) up until I saw the video. Except for the Rage.

Just for the record, I didn't actually rate the arc in-game, since I don't rate anything I don't finish.

Most arcs do not require the level of trust in the contact that is implied by the nature of this challenge.

I see an arc like this, and I assume it's intended for 30-40 toons, since those are the ones that fit the level range. A 50 would have to exemp down, often losing access to powers and set bonuses.

Is it really worth it just for slightly more XP? I dunno. Mr. Inquiry is a good antagonist not because he's super-hard, but because he just won't quit. That sense of relentlessness did come across, more through his recurring appearances and his dialogue than ten-minute fights.

Yes, yes, and yes.

Honestly? I don't know how to handle this.

Everything you had done up until now: stealing from the police, keeping Westin Phipps from justice (maybe add a clue in that mission to his true nature, so your character doesn't have the "innocent until proven guilty" excuse), framing a hero for something he didn't do, no matter how annoying he is, aiding and abetting multiple murders...is still not very heroic.

I think I see where you're coming from then. It looks like this challenge in general struggles with the Sliding Scale of Idealism Vs Cynicism. This game in general falls on the idealistic side. The challenge, on the other hand, implies a far more cynical view, where, if you're going to save the world, you might have to get blood on your hands.

And this is the crux of the problem I had. If Maiden Justice had HAD to perform a dirty act for the greater good, even if the true motives relied on a bit of faith in her good nature on my part, covering it up would be much more "the right thing". What we got on the tape is nearly impossible to explain away, even in the character's own mind.

I was on +1. I think the biggest problem was that Silent Blade and Burning Daemon were stupid and got stuck on stuff, which left only Miss Whatever and me....and she's too stupid to kite, so she got killed. Once his god-mode dropped he did go down. The fight just felt redundant in the context of the story, I mean he's just going to go to the hospital. What makes beating him up worse than beating up the heroes guarding the generators? Now if I'd actually had to beat up Psyche...that would make sense. Or even if I'd had to go through Miss Liberty since AP is her turf.

First off, Indigo acknowledges that what you're doing isn't all that heroic, and she used to hang with a ninja death cult, works for an organization that violates all kinds of international laws, and is friends with a guy who kills people. Secondly, you're dressed up as a villain, and people keep using your villain name...a great name, by the way (yes, I had to google it). Then there are the little bits of dialogue, like "the hospital is equipped to deal with this," which suggest that you are aware that you are causing harm and trying to make yourself feel better.

And then there's the Heroic tag. As far as I'm concerned, that's enough.

The spoiler would be a problem, I agree. However, not believing it? Maybe I wouldn't, but as it stands, I'm going in completely blind. And if I have worked with Indigo before, I would probably be inclined to believe it. After all, her missions are mostly about exposing horrible crimes, it's not that much of a stretch to imagine her covering one up.

Basically all the parts where I was just following Indigo's instructions, or that described things going on around me, are fine the way they are. It's the parts that describe the character's feelings that are problematic, and, sad to say, punching Indigo in the face (because everyone who has ever had to do those stupid fed-exes wants to).

I think you're going beyond "how much evil is acceptable for the purposes of good?" and into the realm of "what is good?" It's that sliding scale again. There's also the fact that, considering the crime itself, there is no excuse. I am simply making a horrible person look good.

I guess it comes down to, no, I don't feel the ends justify the means. And just to clarify, I am firmly on the cynical side of the scale, where heroes sometimes have to kill, or sacrifice hundreds of innocents to save thousands. I could justify everything my character did in this arc, up to letting someone get away with mass murder...but I can't agree with the end motivation itself.

DOH Again, I'm sorry, it was not my intent to offend. I do have an unfortunate tendency to write big giant paragraphs on what an arc does wrong and only a few sentences on what it does right...

Ok, what it does right: Escalation of morally dubious actions. First I steal some evidence...no permanent harm done, and I have a lead on a crooked cop. Then I free a suspected criminal...maybe he'll go on to hurt people, or maybe Longbow will just catch him again. Everyone I'm beating up along the way will just end up in the hospital. Then comes the smear campaign...this guy isn't the type to make friends, so this could do permanent damage. Then I start helping people get away with murder. That's about as permanent as it gets.

The choice of contact is also good. So is the character of Mr. Inquiry. I also liked the whole pre-made villain persona I was given; I don't consider that a character hijacking, since it's essentially a fancy fake ID. The cloak and dagger scripted bits were totally appropriate. Mechanically the arc was sound, except for the parts I've already mentioned. Clues and briefings were well-written. Good pacing. The backtracking was only problematic on that one map, because there are two ways you can go and if you go the wrong way you have to run through four times. The maps are small enough that backtracking once isn't that big a deal.

And I do think the actions taken in this arc can be justified, even though they're pretty bad.

Nowhere do they say that you will level from 1 to 50 as quickly or easily as you would outside the AE system. So no, they're not contradicting themselves.

If it used the existing SG base system on a smaller scale, and allowed for personal storage, then I think it would.