Eva Destruction
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Posts
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Quote:Yeah, if you're running with "pure RPers" or people who are for whatever reason not the greatest at the killing stuff aspect of the game it could very well be that you can only succeed if you bring a character who can carry the team.Originally Posted by Eiko-chan
Therefore, I must assume that either I am being flagged as the bad player (something I doubt, as I not only solo AVs, but have, with various characters, completed every high-level TF in the game except for Statesman and Khan, largely due to the fact that I have only one level 50 Hero and four level 50 villains) or the people I team with are being flagged as bad players (half true, perhaps; several of them are pretty much pure RPers and don't really focus on mechanics).
You can't join my Manticore TF unless you're level 30. You can't join my ITF unless you have the Midnighter badge. Artificial barriers to entry are nothing new to this game.Quote:Originally Posted by Lycaeus
The alpha slot is only the beginning. Did we have to artificially gate content THAT fast and that rigidly? -
Quote:Ah, Dark Miasma. Such a simple and easy thing to fall back on, isn't it?Originally Posted by Eiko-chan
Ah, L2P. Such a simple and easy thing to fall back on, isn't it?
And for the record, I have failed one ITF that I can recall. We were down to five people, all squishies, and after we wiped on Rommy the first time they were more interested in giving up than rethinking their tactics....which mainly consisted of standing there and dropping dead one by one. I still think we could have done it if people had actually loaded up on insps like the team leader and I did (incidentally, we were the last to die) and tried to muster some semblance of cohesion. Oh, and stay the **** out of melee range of a broadsword AV when you're squishy. I have run them with and without Dark Miasma users, with and without Masterminds, with PuGs and SG and coalition mates, with people IOd to the gills and with people who noticed their SOs had gone red halfway through....and we have always found a way. -
Ok here goes. Run by Darkfire Avenger, level 50 DM/SD Scrapper set to +1/x6. Notes taken as I went along, final thoughts at the end.
M1 Intro: The normal newscast is somewhat out of character for Television...it should probably be part of the South Park show.
M1 Return: "Percy being lead" should be "led."
Nemesis's son? How does that work? Nemesis has been essentially a brain in a jar for a long time.
M2 Intro: "who has been stopped and is..." lose the "who" or the "and."
M2 return: "middle age woman" should be "middle aged."
M3 exit pop-up "with out" should be "without."
Wrong Number has too much inactive dialogue. I had to scroll up to read it. On the other hand, AAO appears to override the fear component of Ignite. Berle barbequing a pack of Injustice Legion goons was amusing.
M4 return: "back to critics" should be "the critics."
Souvenir: " has finally went" should be "finally gone."
What I liked: Good pacing on the story, good use of Television for the most part. Berle. Custom group was well balanced, none of the bosses seemed overly powerful. Use of optional details combined with map choices made it so there was enough stuff to do without resulting in objective overload.
What I didn't like: How is Nemesis involved exactly? That kind of went nowhere. Also, I felt you fell back on news-type shows a bit too much in the contact dialogue. Television in canon doesn't need to do that.
Overall though, it was a good arc, fun to play through, flowed well. -
Quote:Make one talk, make the rest silent, since they say the same thing. Talking patrols spawning off a chained objective tend to all talk at once.Originally Posted by Venture
Another five-star comment (bringing the arc up to a mind-numbing four plays
):
I'm fixing Boris now. Not sure I can do much about the patrols, other than have them not talk at all. -
Best Custom group:
#1: Against the Wickerwork Khan
#2: Evolve or Die
Best villainous:
#1: Until the End of the World. Because I am an egomaniac sometimes, and it's a villainous category, and villains always vote for themselves. Sometimes twice.
With the extension I'll hopefully be able to make it through the comedy arcs before the deadline. -
Quote:Unless they've changed it recently, you get more tickets for defeating higher-conning foes. So +0x8 might not be most efficient.Originally Posted by Djeannie
Groups. Not enemies, groups.
In order to maximize your ticket intake you set your difficulty to 0x8 and go to town on each group, which has about a dozen foes in each group. So you're looking at around 140 foes by the time you've hit a dozen groups. -
So opinions: Armageddon in Soul Drain or Shield Charge? Armageddon and Obliteration have nearly identical damage and recharge numbers, but Armageddon has the better proc. Really it'll only make a difference on pylon runs, but is the chance of proccing on the pylon worth the chance of proccing on stuff that isn't the pylon and that I don't want dead?
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Quote:Not really. The AI is still stupid and predictable. There isn't really much "twitchiness" involved.Originally Posted by Megajoule
EDIT, for Casual Player:
You're right, I don't PvP. The twitch reflexes required are actually the smallest part of it - it's more the personalities that tend to be involved - but that's not an insignificant part, to a gamer on the wrong side of 40.
Seeing PvP-like movement in new PvE content is thus a little discouraging for me. Is this what I have to look forward to in the new endgame? Stuff built for all the teen and twentysomething PvPers that ragequit a year ago?
If you can't get out of the way fast enough with your newly inherent swift and hurtle, turn Sprint on. Seriously, none of these new "don't stand there" encounters require travel powers.Quote:Originally Posted by Ironik
I can solve the Protean-type-attacks-are-unfair-against-meleers thing by changing one simple mechanic. Instead of his nuke firing where *he* is, make it fire where *you* are. That way both melee and ranged characters have to move when the warning goes out. Also, remove Suppression so we can actually *get* out of the way in a timely fashion. Bam, problem solved. Next! -
Quote:Oh right, like you're the only one who does it.Originally Posted by LaserJesus
That one is rather specific. You're now on the list.
*Looks at Venture*
*Looks even harder at everyone who thinks adding in a Dark Melee critter with a sparkle aura and a bio that describes what a sweet, romantic, harmless vampire he is automatically translates to funny.*
Well maybe you should read her reviews before making such broad assumptions based on your own lack of reading comprehension.Quote:Originally Posted by Ironik
I haven't read your reviews, but if you have such a dismissive, exclusionary attitude toward things which don't fit into your worldview, I can say sight unseen that I will disagree with them. "I watched The Killing Fields and didn't laugh once! Zero stars!" -
Quote:As long as you don't need super-uber-mega DPS to win, you're fine. Any encounter where you do need melees to be putting out the top DPS possible in order to win are horribly broken to begin with. Battle Maiden is not such an encounter.Originally Posted by Venture
Know what happens if you "joust" with a melee character? You cut your DPS about in half as you spend more time running back to somewhere you can hit the target from as you spend actually hitting the target. The day the devs decided that some characters wouldn't be able to fight effectively at range and that characters can't move while attacking was the day they decided encounters based on mobility would be broken.
Besides, I get the feeling that the Battle Maiden encounter is just a big middle finger from the devs to all the people who are happily married to their tank-and-spank safe zone and team wipe when forced out of it. Seriously people, what else do you expect them to do? Make the encounter "harder" to the point where only the most optimized teams can complete it? Or just make everyone more powerful so we can continue steamrolling +0 ITFs until the end of time? -
Quote:I love when people do this. I do it too. That's the best place for humor in AE, IMO, and those are the kind of "comedy" arcs I like: the ones that focus on a story, and add humor around it.Originally Posted by PoliceWoman
That said, I still find it nearly irresistable to inject humor into lighthearted superhero adventures that I, personally, write. Comic books are meant to be fun, after all.
What I'm tired of is "LOL" comedy arcs; some arcs just scream "look at me, I'm funny, now laugh!" No, they're usually not. They're mostly one-note jokes stretched out into an entire mission, or worse, a multi-mission arc. And if you filtered out all the ones that are based around customs wearing silly costumes, meta-jokes about bad players, Nemesis plots, or making fun of Twilight, there aren't that many comedy arcs left. -
Quote:Yep, I'm gonna give that last spot to the awesomely build DM/SD because it is awesome. Sorry MA/SR Scrapper, you can't join my team because your combo is less awesome than the other guy's. Also, I am such a complete **** that even I wouldn't want to team with me.Originally Posted by Redd Rumm
You don't have to feel bad for making what you want to play with .
some people like to feel smart by dissing popular opinion. what ever is "in"
either they liked it first and now they are way over it, or they never liked it in the first place an every one else is a sheep for doing it . you cant win with those types . you can be on the bandwagon wit a fotm build pwning every mish. or you can be on the sideline when they dont let you join the team wit a crappy power set combo
So there you go, a good reason not to roll the latest FOTM. All the ****s will want you on their team. -
Quote:I'm sure nobody writes mission text with the intent to actually "grief" the player. They're just doing what the devs do and making unwarranted assumptions about the player character that could easily be avoided. Variations on "You crack your knuckles and slick back your hair" are all over AE, just like they're all over dev content, when they have no reason to be. They're also all over the new explore badge text, so again the devs haven't been paying attention when we complain about these things.Originally Posted by Emberly
I'm pretty confident that no author writes descriptive text for an arc with the intent to somehow grief the player by
Maybe we could be outraged about something that is actually a problem?
Remove the "cautiously." Brute SMASH warehouse door.Quote:Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
I
"You cautiously enter the warehouse by an alleyside door, away from potential prying eyes. The acrid scent of Superadine taints the air, marking this warehouse as being the right one."
Remove "glance around." And is it wind or is it whispering voices? If it's just the wind I can't make out words because there aren't any. If there are actually voices I can't make out the words...why? Because of the wind? Make that clearer. As for the "super hearing" argument, this sounds like intro text to a supernatural-themed mission, so there could be stuff going on that keeps you from understanding what people are saying.Quote:"Pushing open the rusted gate, you enter the cemetery and glance around. The sound of the wind in the trees almost seems like whispering voices, but you are unable to make out the words."
"....child that needs your help." Stop. Or rewrite the last sentence to indicate that the child's kidnappers are in here also, but leave the problem of how to deal with the child and the kidnappers up to the player. A Stalker would approach the problem differently from a Brute.Quote:"A cry echoes from an office floor above you, before it's abruptly choked off. Somewhere in here is a child that needs your help... you square your shoulders and stalk toward the stairs, intent on bringing the kidnappers to justice." -
Quote:Both the devs and AE authors do this, and there is no reason for it, and it ticks me off. Why do you have to write "you feel a chill?" I'm a robot, I don't feel chills. Why not write "it's cold in here?" Don't tell me I feel bad about an NPC's death. Make me feel bad. Just because the devs do something doesn't mean it's a good idea. They're the ones who wrote the Dr. Quaterfield task force, remember.Originally Posted by Ironik
I feel your pain and it's something I've railed against a lot in the past. (And mocked for being anal retentive.) The game is so full of things aimed at you having a human hero in the Superman mold ("You slick your hair back" or "You crack your knuckles") that I now automatically ignore anything that doesn't fit into my own worldview of how Paragon City works.
Yeah, well you shouldn't have to. There are many arcs out there where you don't have to, unfortunately they are so bogged down with endless defeat-alls on big maps and "go talk to Indigo again" that nobody holds them up as examples of great stories because they are so boring and tedious to play through that by the time you're halfway done you just don't care anymore.Quote:I agree that AS WRITTEN it's pretty bad, but the version that's IN MY HEAD is pretty cool. I've just become adept at ignoring what the Devs write.
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Quote:I'm a robot. I can't be cloned. I'm a wizard. I am the chosen champion of [insert obscure deity I made up], and there can be only one. I'm Iron Man. My clone doesn't come with power armor, and without it I'm just an ordinary guy. My "powers" are the result of years of training.Originally Posted by Ironik
I think the Ray Cooling arc is cool for the mechanics and the new mission maps but about average as to the writing.
The two Doppelganger arcs, however, have both cool mechanics and a very cool story that is executed extremely well. There are no "filler" missions in those arcs at all, as you progress naturally from one piece of evidence to the next in an organic fashion, building to a superb climax with an interesting pay-off. I think those are easily the best arcs currently in the game.
So an arc that only applies to mutant and some science origin characters is "a very cool story" for an MMO?
No filler and cool mechanics are good mission design, yes, but not necessarily good storytelling when the story in question seems mostly an excuse to use these cool mechanics.
Awfully designed, I will agree. Awfully written? Not so much. This being a game and not a book, both are important, but unfortunately a lot of people can't seem to separate the two.Quote:Originally Posted by Megajoule
Just to complicate matters further, a lot of people feel that much of the stuff written by "the professionals" back in 2003 and 2004 is awful, at least by the standards of 2010 (soon to be 2011).
Not so much anymore. Aside from the (relatively) recent fixing of the middle/back blinky placement bug, there haven't been any major changes made that would break arcs in over a year.Quote:Originally Posted by Ashlocke
While in theory you have a point, in practical terms, not so much.
Each successive change to the AE causes more and more arcs to become invalid, inactive accounts are not fixing their arcs to make them playable again, thus over time they add to the massive list we need to sift through without being actually PLAYABLE.
And just because an account is active doesn't mean they bother to update their arcs either. Good arcs by authors who let their accounts lapse every few months are far better to leave in the system than an active player's abandoned monkey farm. -
Quote:As missions, I'll agree, they're great. They mix things up a lot and keep the gameplay interesting. As stories though, meh. Is there any reason we can't have interesting mission design supplementing great writing instead of mediocre writing providing excuses for flashy missions?Originally Posted by Jetpack
I'm not surprised that you think that.
However, I think you are outnumbered by those who think the most recent story arcs (perhaps fewer in regard to the Alpha arc), think the arcs over the past few issues have been outstanding.
That's part of the problem I have with the recent decisions on what to include in AE. We get doppelgangers but we still can't have a Lieutenant as a "defeat a boss" detail? A basic feature that has been used in dev-created missions since day one has been asked for and not implemented since AE launch, but a new shiny with limited utility but hey, YOU GET TO FIGHT EVIL YOU!!! AWESOME!!! is implemented very quickly. It's downright insulting, really. -
I don't PuG either, so that's my excuse. When I team it's usually for TFs.
Also, the dog ate my homework. -
That army of Legacy Chain at the end got me a huge chunk of that gladiator badge, so I was very happy to see them. Overdrive and her friends are credit toward Hero Slayer too. Of course it probably helps that I was running with an AR/Fire Blaster, so I was wiping them out before they had a chance to run.
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Quote:That depends on your definition of "unimportant." Things like plot holes you could drive a War Walker through, custom critters that annihilate purpled-out tankers in seconds (or even worse, floor your to-hit or recharge or drain all your end or take forever to kill and still give out substandard rewards), spelling errors and typos every other sentence, "canon" arcs with such complete disregard for canon that you have to wonder if the author has ever even read any mission text....those things aren't unimportant.Originally Posted by Nebulhym
"Officially" downstaring other authors' arcs for unimportant details is almost as bad, to me, as being a 1 star bandit. It's even more hypocritical.
And besides, giving an arc a four-star rating ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE A BAD THING. The fact that it is a bad thing is more a problem with the ratings system and search engine than the person handing out the four-star rating. The search engine defines a four-star rating as "excellent." -
I solo AE arcs too, for mostly the reasons people stated. Also, from a story immersion perspective, most arcs, both in AE and in the regular game, are written with the soloist in mind. The contact is speaking to you, not the team; they're just along because you asked them. So I write for soloists, since that's where the audience is, and that's what suits my playstyle as well, then balance encounters accordingly. So anyone who has played my arcs and made comments about how so-and-so should be an AV...no, they really shouldn't. AVs are team content that scales down to EBs as a nod to soloists. I write solo content, I might as well just make an EB and avoid the "Dominators and Controllers need not apply" warning.
Let's face it, there's no point in giving your boss lovingly crafted death lines when a team is just going to drop him in three seconds anyway. -
Quote:Huh? When have the AE and base editing people put each other down? The base editing community is sort of like the old guy sitting on his porch to the AE community, commiserating about how when he was our age, he had to spin desks to stack stuff, us kids these days don't know how good we have it, and another thing, the base editors don't get no fancy shmancy "contests" either.Originally Posted by Cybernetic_Hobo
Someone get the PvP, AE, and base editing playerbases together and tell them to stop putting each other down and start realizing how much they have in common.
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Quote:The scarf is a standard cape detail, isn't it? Or is there another scarf that is unlocked with the winter event?Originally Posted by DevilYouKnow
DumpleBerry;
Actually, this toon's name is G8 Battle Ace based on the 30's pulp character. He is a WWI pilot who thwarts evil schemes against the US.I need to get him out of Praetoria and into the Winter Event. He needs the white neck scarf to complete his look
In either case, gratz. -
Quote:This I don't get. I mean, yeah, Shields is awesome, I have one and love it, but it would be so BORING to play the same thing over and over again.Originally Posted by Crashed
You know, as someone with a Shield character as one of his favorite characters, the amount of hype Shield gets still blows me away. I remember once I was on my Spines/SR shortly after making him (I think I was on a sewer run) and I got a tell saying something like, "Hey man you should reroll to Shield Defense, it's way better." I don't think he realized my primary was Spines, but you get the idea.
So I add Shield Defense to my (short) list, most definitely. It's the only time I've ever had anyone tell me that I should reroll into a "better" powerset.
Then you have a bad tank. They would be bad no matter what powerset they were using.Quote:Originally Posted by MaHaBone23
I don't mind elec/shield brutes or scrappers, but I HATE it when the lead tank is a SD/ELEC. They have too much control over the pace of the team, and will sit on their hands until Shield Charge and/or Lightning Rod are recharged. Never mind that they have 7 fully capable damage dealing and support teams ready to charge on. It's all about them. >:-|
Yeah well....it doesn't take me forever to kill bosses, so there.Quote:Originally Posted by Deus_Otiosus
I don't use mine for farming, I use mine for wiping out entire spawns on TFs unsupported.
Those "long recharge" nukes are on 28s timers, i.e. one is up every 14s.
Both are supplemented by Thunder Strike (which doesn't get enough credit for the DPA that it has), Ball Lightning & Chain Induction.
Softcapped, no purples, no PvP IOs and post AMs the entire build was put together for about 500 mill and 10-12 Alignment Merits.
It is a specialized Softcapped & highly survivable, high burst AoE damage dealer and is in fact as good as a lot of it's hype.
The lackluster single-target damage is the biggest drawback of Electric melee for me. The Elec/Shield hype tends to conveniently ignore that aspect. Not that other powerset combos don't have their drawbacks, they all do. It's just that part of the problem with overhyping a set is that the downsides aren't mentioned, and people gravitate toward the set thinking it's awesome at everything and end up horribly disappointed when it doesn't do what they wanted it to. -
Quote:I don't deny that there are some Fire/Kins that are very useful to a team. It is a support AT after all. That requires the player to actually play it as a support AT though, and to keep in mind that they're NOT farming solo. And as you said, some skill is required.Originally Posted by The_Ringer
Agree with you everywhere else, but I think this is a little unfair. I enjoy my fire/kin on a team because it has the ability to fill a great deal of roles very effectively. Some skill is required, yes, but it allows me to play a wide variety playstyles with great effectiveness.
You'd like playing with mine. -
Quote:This. A thousand times this. Add in all the crappy players who gravitate toward the combo because it's teh uberz for farming, and I cringe every time one joins the team.Originally Posted by Talen Lee
Fire/kin controllers are very, very good at knocking down tuned groups of a specific type without interference and provided nothing odd gets thrown at them.
They do not bring anything to a variable situation that other control/support combos don't seem to bring as well, if not better. Great farmers, but if you're rolling one for non-farm purposes, the combo is quite ho-hum.
Elec/Shields. Yeah, sure, you get two awesome mini-nukes, but they're on long timers, and your single-target damage sucks. Making one awesome isn't cheap, so you might as well take the inf you were going to spend to make "teh awesome farmer" and go spend it on the characters you're farming for. And if you're not spending the inf to make it awesome, you're not killing anything when you're faceplanted.
Stone Armor. Get a Willpower or an Invul, invite a bubbler or a Cold or an Empath who knows what Fortitude is and you'll have a tank that's just as survivable, and without the drawbacks. Plus the bubbler or Cold or Empath will be keeping everybody else alive.