Eva Destruction

[ QUOTE ]
From the obvious Council base in the RWZ - which goes on to quite a depth actually, to the Crey caged 'zoo' in Nerva, there is a lot to explore.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then there's the little area in the Longbow base in Nerva, where they have DE in cages...I found that one completely by accident while on a "defeat x" mission. And after all this time, I still love the Council base on Striga. And the Sky Raider base in Sharkhead (although it needs more turrets, like the instanced version). The Storm Palace is still the most visually stunning zone in the game, too bad there's so much empty space between the islands. I thought Carnival Town was awesome, before redside started overusing Freak Chic. And I loved the old Faultline. I have a whole folder of screenshots I took just before they got rid of it.

What do all of those places have in common? Oh yeah, they're all places you spend very little time in, if any. Most of your time is spent going through the same city-scape over and over.

Actually it was going to be more along the lines of "they know you're coming and they really want to stop you but you're too powerful so they have to limit your powers," with enemy dialogue and animations showing that they're making a real effort to do so. It's a villain arc.

But if people are going to look at a bunch of 45-50 missions in the description and then see a 20-33 mission and go, "nah, I'm not doing that arc," then I'll just have to find another way to advance the story.

Ok, you seem fairly un-swamped, so I'll throw mine into the ring. I'd like a critique of either

The Second Coming of the Mega Mech (#122274)
or
Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black (#161629)

I've played through Donut World ('cause I have to do what everybody else isn't) and left a critique in the thread.

The arc's basic premise requires a high-level villain. I hate varying level ranges for no reason too, I just wanted to have the Midnighters in there. They would have had the information you needed, and a very good reason for not wanting you to have it. I guess I'll have to think up a replacement mission.

Horror to Puzzles/Riddles

I have had to split up the list in order to post a revision, otherwise, I get an error. This is now in two parts.

Horror
--------
Astoria in D Minor (41565) -- Heroic
Dark Dreams (3615)
D!E COUNT DADDY MACULA D!E! (10619) -- Heroic (1970's Action/Horror)
Don't Play With The Dead (31813) -- Neutral
The Amulet of J'gara (1709) -- Heroic
Project: Perilous - Into the Chthonian Pit (#3586) - Neutral (Unless you happen to be a mad cultist, in which case, go nuts!)
Small Fears -- Heroic
Lights, Camera, Scream! (#68627) - 3 Mission arc that get's you into the B-Horror film circuit.
Duality --Heroic -- 84105
Hunting the Hunters --Villainous -- 93362 - Help a vampire find out who is hunting his people
Creepy Crawlers - Arc ID: 82553 (Lv 41 - 52, a short, solo-friendly ghost story. Best played alone.)
I Will Dance On Your Grave - Arc ID 92630 – Any level, no EBs or AVs, Voodoo, Necromancy
Movie Monster Madness.. - 102058
Something Comes to Yarmouth(58812) - Heroic, levels 25+ (masearch link)
*
The Zombie Apocalypse Task Force: Something wicked this way comes.


Large-Scale Crisis
--------
Alpha and Omega (60015) -- Heroic
Is it Live or is it Memory-X - Arc ID #70210 - Heroic
This Is War, Part I - the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz -- Neutral
Win the Past, Own the Future - Heroic
A Warrior's Friend - Heroic
The Clockwork War -- Heroic (18672)
Flight of the Valkyries - Precursor (20272) -- Neutral
War of the Worlds - The Anakim Invasion - Part 1, Neutral (15006)
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat....ue#Post13304513
War of the Worlds - The Anakim Invasion - Part 2, The Terran Revolt, Neutral (46711)
url=http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=13304455&an=0&am p;page=0#Post13304455
Bleed the Freak - Arc ID #6919 - Heroic
The All-Seeing Eye - Arc ID #57352 - Heroic [SFMA, Soloable, No EB/AVs, Auto-SK to 30/41)
*

Magic
--------
The Magical Miss Fitz (5079) -- Heroic
Chains of Blood (5492) -- Heroic
A Deal with Destiny -- Heroic
The Broken Chain (82378) -- heroic
Croatoa's Great War: The Parfait Family Reunion -- Neutral -- 71880
Rex is Missing! - Heroic - 51702
The Tannhäuser Gate (Arc 96322)
I Will Dance On Your Grave - Arc ID 92630 – Any level, no EBs or AVs, Voodoo, Necromancy
*

Military
--------
Redoubt Operations #1: Fires over Kalago -- Heroic
Red Typhoon (Arc 4912) -- Heroic
Whitehawks (Arc 49364) -- Heroic
Axis and Allies -- Villainous (1379)
Vanguard AQUA (58475) -- Neutral
Wings of Deception, 101926
*

Misc. Adventure
--------
Impossible Kung Fu Mission -- Nuetral (111367)
The Portal Bandits (3326) -- Heroic
A Glitch in the Wyre- Arc 73197-- Neutral (Fun for both the good kids and the bad kids too!)
The Council Cargo - Arc ID: 36951 (Heroic, Lv 26 - 31, solo or team)
Hero Therapy! (TM) - 119228
The Second Coming of the Mega Mech - Heroic (122274)
*


Mystery
--------
Blowback (18575) -- Heroic
Dream Paper -- Heroic (13030)
Dream Paper 2: Restless Sleep -- Heroic (16797)
Dream Paper 3: Broken Dreams -- Heroic (13064)
Hunter of Beasts: It begins with a riot... Arc ID: 110465 - Heroic
Females for Hire - Neutral (Heroic and/or Mercenary motivations) (110723)
*

Mythology
--------
Atlantis Attacks! -- Neutral (30898) -- Click for Promotional Poster
The Seelie War -- Heroic
The Unseelie War -- Villainous
[b] The Seeds of Yggdrasil[b/] -- heroic
Tales of Cimerora, volume 1 : Of feathers and fur -- Heroic
The Aegis Affair - Heroic - **** - 16376
Witches and Warriors (53006)- Heroic
Rites of the Maenads (61159) - Heroic
The Parable of the Fruit Salad -- Heroic -- 65369
The Eye of Balor (88176) - Heroic
Madness And The Minotaur - Neutral - 90124
*

Nemesis Plots
--------
Brass Reaver: Part 1 -- Neutral
The Handbag Plot -- Heroicish -- 36414
Rise and Fall of the Iron General -- Heroic -- 142200
*

Player-Chosen Outcome
--------
Hunting the Dark Dragon -- Heroic
Playing Gods -- Heroic (51106)
Time's Maelstrom -- Heroic #147296
*

Sci-Fi
--------
Above Mars - Part 1: The Wellington -- Neutral (13215)
Adventures of the Space Marines -- Neutral
Adventures of the Space Marines 2 -- Neutral
The Adventures of the United Earth Rangers -- Neutral (29549)
The Continuing Adventures of the United Earth Rangers -- Neutral (70237)
The Final Nemesis
The Knights of Rularuu -- Heroic (75386)
[color= #bbff88]Reach for the Stars -- Neutral (78904) [/color]
Spaced Invaders --Heroic(56856)
That Mysterious Buzzing Sound - 12774
The Balance of Power - 26931 - Neutral
welcome to donut world - 1233 heroic
*

Un-themed Survival/AV/Time Challenges
--------
The Meatgrinder -- Neutral
*

Puzzles/Riddles
--------
Grim Riddles (#1396) - Heroic
*

AE System to Holiday

I have had to split up the list in order to post a revision, otherwise, I get an error. This is now in two parts.

AE System
--------
[url=http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=13315151]Mission Architect Playable Tutorial - 28470
Welcome to Architect Entertainment -- Neutral
Death for Dollars! -- Neutral
Bare Knuckles of Rage (9304)
Signal to Noise -- Neutral -- 67277
5th Anniversary Flashback Smackdown -- Neutral -- 126896
*

Allegory
---------
Who is Kidnapping the World's Great Philosophers? -- Neutral -- 86347
*

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


Classic Super-Hero/Super-Villain
--------
THE BOMBER --- Heroic --- Arc 16607
In The Shadow of Statesman --Neutral--1160
A Show to Die For! --- Heroic --- 30645
Check... and Mate #15095 - Heroic - Mini Task Force
Teen Phalanx Forever! -- Heroic (67335)
This Life Immortal - (5756) Heroic
Paradox Paradox - (69221) Heroic Stop yourself and Stellar from being erased!
Sidekicks Can Be A Pain In The Cape - (28430)
'Tis Nobler in the Mind - Heroic
Deadly Sins! - 99366: fairly tough arc, can be solo'd.
Marketing Opportunity - Villainous - 83747
To Save A Single World - Heroic - 83744
*


Comedy
--------
The String Thief, Arc ID: 15726 Neutral 1-54
Mean People, Arc ID:16690 Neutral 1-54
The Extadine Lab -- Heroic (2595)
MacGuffin Delivery Service (1567) -- Villainous
ParaCon -- Heroic (1684)
The new and improved Lord Recluse Strike Force -- Villainous (though I wouldn't recommend against a hero )
The Fire Bunnies - Neutral, They are only bunnies after all...
You Say It's Your Birthday! (3630) - Neutral
Trademark Infringement -- Heroic (2220)
Hail to the King Neutral (34640)
Walk On the Wild Side - Neutral - 3580
Shirley You Jest (25474) -- Neutral
The Invasion of the Bikini Clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space! - Heroic - 61013
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 (arc 35585) -Villian
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! (Arc #69947) - Heroic
Daytime Divas - #94504 Where else can you get a hair extension as a souvenir?
Death to Disco! - (Neutral, 84420) A short arc that has time travel, silk shirts, platform shoes, Jimmy Carter and a chance to save Rock and Roll.
Too Many Bunnygirls! - ID#101165(neutral). Time to stop them once and for all.
Invasion on Earth BX1132! - Neutral - 45+ - #98943
Ee=Ai-Ee-Ai-Oh! - Neutral - 3662
The foul-mouthed Handyman! - Neutral - 1076
City of Norms - Neutral - 132944
Killing The Meow Farm - 141625 - Neutral
Shortbow - Arc ID: 143566 - Heroic Lvl: 30-38
Jerk Hackers! - Heroic (162482)
*
Comedy/Drama
--------
Kidnapping an Idol 136188 Neutral
Fashion Apocalypse - Neutral - 14840
The Running of the Bulls -- Heroic 29973
A Super Team is Born -- Heroic
Cause of How Some Silly Stealed My Wings #1481 -- Neutral
How to Survive a Robot Uprising -- Heroic (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 (althoughs romantic villains could try this too )
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 - Heroic (66861)
Putting Out Fires: A Corporate Satire (20100) - Villainous
The Rise and Refall of Pets'n'Things.com - Heroic - 1061
The Cat's in the Cradle (8776) - Villainous
Females for Hire - Neutral (Heroic and/or Mercenary motivations) (110723)
The Cathedral of Mild Discomfort - Heroic (153712)
Freaks, Geeks and Men in Black - Heroic (161629)
*

Crime/Gangs
--------
Bricked Electronics -- Heroic (LIVE! 2180)
The Bravuran Jobs -- Villainous (16809)
The Black Flag Is On The Rise (Pirates!) - Villainous
Win the 2009 Freak-Lympics (2150) - Villainous
Ninja Crimewave! (2142) - Heroic
Whitehawks (Arc 49364) -- Heroic
The Internet is for Crime (53385) - Villains
Plastic Pistol Peril (1135) - Heroic
Friends in Need (Of Body Parts) - Villainous (31005)
A Little RnR - Heroic (17523) click for Promotional Poster
Mechanical Mayhem - Villainous (76721)
Females for Hire (about a mercenary gang) - Neutral (Heroic and/or Mercenary motivations) (110723)
Battlin' Tom's Murder Extravaganza! -- Villainous -- 99803
*

Drama
--------
The Conciliators: Simone -- Heroic (4010)
The Fan Club -- Heroic
Matchstick Women -- Heroic -- 3369
Of Mentors and Legacy - Heroic - 1589
Digital Love -- Neutral -- 3571
A Flame the Burns Bright- 112548
Clonus, Parts 1 & 2 - Arc ID: 21499 - Heroic Lvl 30-54
*

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

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

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

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

Historical (CoH Lore)
--------
The War on Superadine - The Regulators in their 1980's drug war (Heroic) (Arc 7959)
Origins - Volume 1 (57077) -- Heroic
The Once and Future King (#71601) - Heroic
*

Holiday
--------
City of Ho Ho Ho #18775 - Heroic
Hectic Holidays -- Heroic (36999) also comedy
Santa's Missing List - 34961
Santa's Workshop of Misfit Toys - heroic - 134140
*

Ok, I get it. No exemping.

Now another question: Is there any trick that lets you add an enemy to a mission without scaling the mission to the enemy's level? In other words, is there any way to add a few grey-cons to a mission?

Ambushes, rescues, and (iirc) defendable objects don't spawn at "standard" spawn points. Bosses and destructibles do.

[ QUOTE ]
Apparently the giant robot map only has one rescue point, which is aaaall the way at the top. So the hero who is supposed to help you with the AV in one of the arcs I'm working on (not the one in my sig I pimp constantly) will only spawn at the top while the boss will spawn randomly anywhere on the map regardless of where I tell him to go.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, and when you rescue him the ally proceeds to run around like an idiot, going after the turrets, aggroing everything you didn't kill on the way up. Really, you're better off not including an ally on that map.

Option 1 has you investigating on your own, while option 2 has you acting as the contact's errand boy. I'd go with option 1. You have to work harder to make getting the relics interesting, but it involves the player more in the story.

Well the problem is I already have a custom group planned that can't be replaced by an existing group. Whereas a heroic group that combats threats of a supernatural nature...we already have two. So not only would I be using up file size with a custom group, I'd be creating redundancy. They really should just expand the Midnighters to go all the way to 50, since the lore around them implies that they're familiar with the likes of Lilitu and Rularuu....

How do people feel about being exemped for a single mission out of a longer arc? Will people accept it if there's an explanation for why their character is suddenly weaker? Or do people fight tooth and nail against anything that will keep them from their precious XPs and set bonuses?

I'm currently thinking about an arc, that due to the nature of what you're dealing with is intended for high-level villains. However I may need to include a heroic magic-themed group, and the only ones available are the Legacy Chain and Midnighters, both of which cap out around 30. Are people cool with that, so long as it advances the story?

See, that right there: The first part establishes some flavor to the enemy group. Once I've established it's all the same for each guy, I can skip it, read his little individual blurb, and shoot him. Or not, if I choose, since after reading one or two I have some idea of who I'm shooting.

If you put nothing, you might as well put "walking sack of xp, inf and tickets."

You get the error message when you start typing, then it goes away when you get past the naughty part. It makes me giggle in a Beavis and Butthead sorta way.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Then I find the stage manager and...EB! I'm one of those people who appreciates being warned about EBs. Furthermore, I don't think he's important enough to be an EB. I kick his butt, he says some stuff about Boyle, further driving home the point that he's just a lackey.


[/ QUOTE ]

He's not important enough to be an EB, but since that was the only way to make him be part of the group and not show up in patrols and/or the general milling groups, that was my only option.

[/ QUOTE ]

You could give him a custom group that is just him.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

As I leave I am informed he's going to take out the Dark Magii "tonight." When did he say it was tonight? A slight tweak to his text would explain that better.


[/ QUOTE ]

Canon missions give us extra information on exit that isn't a rehash of what was in mish quite often; I could have put this in a defeat or mish exit clue I suppose, but some folks don't look at the clues either, so I chose to put this in a more "in your face" location. Again, I followed the dev lead here as it were.


[/ QUOTE ]

His dialogue implies they'll be taking out the Dark Magii "soon." The pop-up says "tonight." I agree that the pop-up is a good thing, if a player doesn't read the dialogue, but it could match a little better, that's all.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

I head out, I rescue Jett, who's bio says he's the "base" player, and lead him out. It's not a big map, but I keep losing him as he goes into his "rescued" animation repeatedly. This might be a problem with rescues in general, I suggest just getting rid of his rescued animation entirely. Also, the stranded animation isn't really appropriate, why does he fall down?


[/ QUOTE ]

I think some of the animations availabe for this particular characer were changed post 5/5 -- I don't recall giving him a falldown animation. I'll have to take a look at that. Thanks for pointing it out.

[/ QUOTE ]

His stranded animation is the Unconscious one. Also, I noticed the escort animation problem when testing my own arc, he would do the rescued animation a lot. When I ditched the rescued animation entirely the lead-out went much smoother. Just something to consider, it's a small enough map that it isn't TOO annoying.

[ QUOTE ]


I had to make a couple of sacrifices in the mission since it's pushing 99.98% at the moment... this spot seemed like a good candidate, but maybe not...

[/ QUOTE ]

You could probably sacrifice a minion from the custom group and still have enough variety, if you're really hurting.

[ QUOTE ]


Well yes and no... If you read the official site... the full name is "Superadine", Dyne is just one nickname:


[/ QUOTE ]

I stand corrected then. But the y makes it look cool.

[ QUOTE ]


I see what you mean here about the Family. I can see about maybe changing the group that is guarding Jett in the previous mish to be Family... that would probably give an appropriate in mish "aha" moment instead of leaving it to a contact reveal. It would make the player feel like they discovered it instead of the contact.

The transformation pods were selected to mesh with a very specific map, and when that was pulled it kind of took some of the epic feel from this last mish. I can only hope that it comes back when they fix the spawning bugs it had.


[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, but why do they need the pods? The arc implies that the drug is distributed through drinks. I got the impression that the pods were used to simulate the "club" environment, but that's just a guess, and whatever they're for it should tell me somewhere, or at least hint strongly.

[ QUOTE ]

Yes the story is personal for the character, but I'm purposefully only hinting at it to avoid any "Mary Sue-isms" it might elicit.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think you have a Mary Sue. I do think you are downplaying his personality too much for fear of Mary Sue. The story stands on its own, there are clear motives for your character to see it through that have nothing to do with the contact.

[ QUOTE ]

I think it's a bit small time for arcing across all levels as well actually, and it was originally leveled at 1-14, 1-15, 1-19 and 1-20. However, the overwhelming feedback I received from folks that initially played the arc was that they wanted to play it across the full level range, so I took out the restraining background battles that artifically dropped it down. Given that Supatrolls cap at 19th level, that would make more sense to me; I chose to cater to the player feedback at the time and made my own versions of the Supatrolls so they's scale for all levels.

[/ QUOTE ]

The advanced Supatrolls make sense, since they're on advanced Superdyne. I just got the overall vibe that this is the kind of arc you would expect to see in the 20-30 range. It's a little major for the teen levels, since you're not dealing with the distributors then, just the users. Plus, there are custom enemies, which don't scale down so well. Maybe add a note to the description that this is the level range the arc is intended for, because from the viewpoint of a 50 it's underwhelming.

Thank you for the critiques, a few clarifications:

Teh Crushifier's misuse of words was deliberate. His dialogue was a bit of an homage to the K'tang in Star Control 3.

The clueless body bags, like you said, were because there were so many clues already. None of them are required objectives, the ones in the second mission especially are there just to set the tone.

I totally overlooked the fact of the contact's friends in the finishing dialogue. I think I'm going to have to tweak that...

As for the final map...I agree, it is a bit big. There aren't a lot of small city maps available though. The one AP map won't let me have allies and rescues, and the other has that stupid meteor in it that doesn't make any sense for this story.

I'll also be taking another look at the souvenir.

Those words aren't considered swears. And I did find it kinda funny having that error message pop up every time I typed "assassin."

The issue isn't "what is considered profanity and why are people so hung up on certain words?" it's that the filter is blocking perfectly legitimate words.

Ok, I want some constructive criticism so I'm going to try my hand at this critiquing thing.

Arc critiqued: Avenging the Dead (ID # 7326)
Character used: Eva Destruction, purpled-out level 50 AR/Fire blaster, on 2nd difficulty setting. This arc wasn't particularly difficult so I won't really be commenting on that.

Spoilerific criticisms ahead.

Mission1: The arc description established some backstory, and the contact assumed my character would know about it. Ok, I can live with that. You have a bit of awkward wording in the intro dialogue (by the time I resurfaced, redundancy in the last paragraph) and a few minor errors (setup should be set up, Stage Manager doesn't need to be capitalized, no spacing after some punctuation) But he gets the needed information across.

I accept, and he mentions the name Boyle, as if I should have heard it before. I have a "who's that guy?" moment. Even after playing through and knowing who he is, it seems more of an oversight than deliberate foreshadowing.

Heading into the mission I am told I hear a "familiar metal band" Really? It seems Dead Zone is best known for something other than their music.

I find the clue and am a bit confused...I clicked a desk, and the begin interaction text tells me I'm examining a cell phone. The object is labeled "Cell phone," but I don't look at that, it's a desk. The text could be rewritten so the begin interaction text tells me I found a cell phone, then the interact bar tells me I'm examining it.

Then I find the stage manager and...EB! I'm one of those people who appreciates being warned about EBs. Furthermore, I don't think he's important enough to be an EB. I kick his butt, he says some stuff about Boyle, further driving home the point that he's just a lackey.

The custom group was appropriate, some descriptions were overlong but overall not bad.

On to mission 2. I go to investigate the record company. I search through a bunch of boxes, find the important one, where I get no begin or complete interaction text...also I don't know if a jumbled pile of boxes is the most appropriate way to store a fancy designer drug. I find Boyle (huh-huh, punny name), another EB (although this time EB status is appropriate). A few errors in his bio (boilster instead of bolster, and his smile never "reaches to his eyes" doesnt' need the "to"), I kick his butt too, and then I cringe, as he says "You wouldn't hit a guy w/ glasses." I know you're dealing with a 100 character limit, but just....don't do that. Please.

As I leave I am informed he's going to take out the Dark Magii "tonight." When did he say it was tonight? A slight tweak to his text would explain that better.

On to mission 3. The intro text gives the impression it may be timed, so I assume it is, but some people might not, so you might want to make it more obvious to be on the safe side. After I accept, the contact text is just...awkward. I get what I'm supposed to do, but it just doesn't sound right. I can't pinpoint exactly what's wrong with it though.

I head out, I rescue Jett, who's bio says he's the "base" player, and lead him out. It's not a big map, but I keep losing him as he goes into his "rescued" animation repeatedly. This might be a problem with rescues in general, I suggest just getting rid of his rescued animation entirely. Also, the stranded animation isn't really appropriate, why does he fall down?

I find the rest of the band members, it's pretty obvious what happened to them, but the lack of interact bar text just bugs my eyes.

On to mission 4. The intro text at the beginning should probably say "this is worse". Also, they're lazy? Really? You would think going out of your way to develop a new strain of SuperDyne is the opposite of lazy. It's Dyne by the way, not Dine.

In I go, and am told that the place "seems to have an uneasy vibe" this is awkward. I also have an awkward nav objective "Find evidence..." The ellipsis are unnecessary. Also, what are the Family doing here? Yes we know they're involved with Dyne distribution, but some connection should be established, or at least hinted at somewhere. There is absolutely no interaction anywhere between Family and any of the custom groups, they seem like they're just there to fight me. And what's with the transformation pods? I can sorta guess based on the evidence I found, but some hints could also be dropped, either in the object description or in the guards' dialogue. Overall I think this mission had the most problems, as it should wrap everything up nicely and in some ways fails to do so.

Overall: I think it's appropriate to the level 20-30 range, story-wise, maybe even up to 40, but definitely small-time stuff for a 40+ I would like to have more sense of the contact's personality, as this is personal for him, and he comes across as a typical CoH contact; he gives you the information you need and not much more. The third mission is the strongest, it has a definite atmosphere to it, which the rest of the missions are lacking. The missions progress logically, they tell me what I need to know to proceed, up until the final mission I know all I need to. The problem is they pretty much ONLY tell me what I need to know, aside from a few patrols in the third and last missions there isn't any "flavor" stuff.

I gave this a 3 but with some work it could easily be a 4 at least.

Now my turn. I would like someone to critique either:

The Second Coming of the Mega Mech (#122274) or
Freaks, Geeks and Men in Black (#161629)

Yes it would suck to get banned just for trying to use the name of a dev-created entity.

I googled it, apparently the Slingers was the name of some obscure Marvel superteam. So obviously in the case of Gunslingers, you're not making any reference to "a profane or copyrighted term." Chalk up another point against the filter.

[ QUOTE ]
Mac- I noticed change in FF and Sonic bubbles too. Funny thing is, it seems to behave differently depending on which toon I'm running the mish with. With my 50 brute, the big bubbles behave as you describe (turning off/on). But when I run same mish with some of my littler toons, the big bubbles stay on.... Strange! Have you learned anything else about this change?

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Er, I think that's what might be happening with one of my allies as well. She uses Shield Defense, and when testing with my 50, she wasn't running her toggles, but when I run the mission with my lower level characters she does. I didn't really see if she turned them back on when I moved away, I'll have to test that.

I can't use Gunslingers in a title, because "Slingers" is not allowed for some reason. And yet I can use "Assassin."

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I try to put at least a brief description on any custom NPCs I create, though for "cannon fodder" it's sometimes just a sentence such as "Shroud Gunman prefer to attack their enemies from range". I try to be be more descriptive for my unique "named" NPCs in case the palyer bothers to check, but I don't put any story-vital info there.

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I'm honestly far more likely to read a single-sentence description than a whole paragraph for every minion. The point is, that having even something as simple as your example establishes that "this is a Shroud Gunman" while the generic description basically says "this is a Custom Critter." Shroud Gunman increases immersion and makes your custom group more interesting. Custom Critter is just a costume and some powersets.

I read everything, and if there's nothing to read I deduct ratings. If a few enemies are missing bios, or if your arc is light on clues, or pop-ups, or dialogue, I might not, but if it's missing all of the above I might as well be doing a paper mission.

The only thing I never fill in myself is the Interrupt text for blinkies. I can never think of anything good to put there. On the other hand, I always fill in the Interact text, even if it's something generic like "Searching...." the interact bar just looks weird if there's nothing there.

Ok, so lesbians are ok, but beating them up is not, even if they're evil lesbians? Because by saying some lesbians are evil, you are obviously implying that all lesbians are evil. Got it....I think.

Sarcasm doesn't always translate I guess. At least we're still allowed to say "Lesbian."

They're both set to Standard primary, Hard secondary, they have pretty much the same powers in their secondary as they had pre-patch. The Shield character in particular is confusing, as she's not using her toggles.