Justice Blues

Test the maps. While the spawn points for object are messed up on some of them, they are usually consistent. Once you know that Middle on a map means it will actually show on the Front, just take that into account when placing objectives. It takes some extra time, but it lets you tell your story. And remember that mob spawns are separate from object spawns, so they need to be tested on their own. Also, there is no Front, Middle, or Back on Outside maps.

Both of mine are updated for I15, with some new mobs with the extra space, and better power selections (I hope!) I have also made some changes to dialogue and clues, to clear up some things I have heard in feedback.

Title: Future Skulls
ID: 4727
Levels: 1-15
Description: The Skulls are just a street gang now. But they have big plans for the future. Mirror Spirit asks for your help to stop one of them. [SFMA/LBMA]

Title: Simple Times
ID: 70801
Levels: 5-14
Description: Talshak the Mystic has asked for your help with a minor clean up mission in a warehouse. Happens all the time, no big deal, just giving someone a quick helping hand. At least that was how it started. Sequel to Future Skulls. [SFMA/LBMA]

Since you are opening up again, I have a couple as of now. While the second is a sequel, they each stand alone pretty well. No EB/AVs in any of the missions. They have been updated for I15, and I am contemplating some major changes on the second arc, if I can figure out exactly how to accomplish what I want.

Title: Future Skulls
ID: 4727
Levels: 1-15
Description: The Skulls are just a street gang now. But they have big plans for the future. Mirror Spirit asks for your help to stop one of them. [SFMA/LBMA]

Title: Simple Times
ID: 70801
Levels: 4-14
Description: Talshak the Mystic has asked for your help with a minor clean up mission in a warehouse. Happens all the time, no big deal, just giving someone a quick helping hand. At least that was how it started. Sequel to Future Skulls. [SFMA/LBMA]

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You do know that in I15 they already decreased the amount of space that Custom Critters take up? I was easily able to add in a 3rd Lt. and 2nd Boss, plus add auras to all of the Customs in the group, with lots of room left over. I can easily add in a couple more without running out of room, when the arc had been running out of room before.

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Yes I am aware. You're still very limited in what you can use. Try making custom groups with more than 2 minions, 2 Lt.s, 2 Bosses, 2 EBs and an AV. It still takes up a lot of space.

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Okay, the group I was talking about has 4 minions, 3 Lts, and 2 bosses. (The there is room for the AV, but I don't need him for this arc so removed him from the group.) That is 9 custom characters, same as your list. The other custom group in the arc has 3 custom critters, 2 Bosses and 1 Lt., plus recolored versions of 7 standard mobs, along with the regular versions of all of the standard mobs. So I am up to 12, with room for at least 2 more. And every single one of the custom critters has some kind of aura, and most of them have a customized weapon.

The 4 mission arc is at like 82% right now. I could easily add in another mission, but the story doesn't require it. My problem these days is fitting necessary information into the 1000 character limits.

So I have a wide variety of customs already in the mission, with the wonderful option of adding in more for flavor. Yes more room would be nice, but the changes that have already happened have made things much better.

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This may seem wierd, but up until either I13 or I14, I never recalled seeing a zone name at the top of the security entrances to the Hazzard Zones.
I don't mean at the guards you click on to go into the zone. I mean at the top of the War Wall entrance. It's just something I never really noticed before.

Thank you for the time...

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To be fair, they DID change this earlier in the game's history. They didn't used to be there at all. Side-plaques, top of doorway, it was different. >_> I don't even notice them at all any more so I cant' even really say which way they ARE versus how they WERE, but they DID change.

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They originally had the hazard zone's name above the door, engraved in whatever it is the war walls are made of. Then when they started up the European servers, they removed those and made the plagues beside the entrances, so the foreign language servers could be changed more easily apparently. (Not that big a deal for German or French probably, but there was the Korean version.) I am not certain when the last change went in.

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Surely this isn't happening with all rescue details? Is it specific to this map?

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It happened to me on the Midnighter Club map and it sounds like Inazuma is using a standard office map. I just know I bugged it in the Beta and on Live, and I can't publish my arc until it is fixed.

I have found some good names using different mythologies. Need a name for an electric blaster? How about the storm god from the Polynesian pantheon? Others I take forever to get a decent name. I had an Ice/Ice blaster I just didn't play much because his name sucked (It was so bad I can't even remember what it was. ) I finally gave him the name Chilly Death and he is fun to play. Now I am resisting the temptation to create a Fire/Fire blaster with the name Chili Death.

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I need some help here.

In my latest AE arc, I have a timed mission in which you need to rescue 5 people from an office building before it collapses.

The editor reports no errors anywhere in my arc. Yet, every time I test this mission, it fails a few seconds after I rescue the first person. I save them, they thank me and run off, then about 5-10 seconds later I'm booted out and told Mission Failed!

I have no clue what is causing this. Is it a bug I'm unaware of?

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I saw this in the Beta and bugged it. As soon as your hostage leaves the map, the mission fails. You can see it in the test mode, with the map open, there is a green marker for the hostage. When they hit a door, you are booted from the map with mission fails.

You do know that in I15 they already decreased the amount of space that Custom Critters take up? I was easily able to add in a 3rd Lt. and 2nd Boss, plus add auras to all of the Customs in the group, with lots of room left over. I can easily add in a couple more without running out of room, when the arc had been running out of room before.

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Here is a radical thought. Since you want new content for the low levels, and you are not supposed to use the MA system for PLing to 50 in a few hours, why don't you try playing the MA content for the new stories that are in it?

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Because I don't like zoning into a mission as a level 6 and discovering that I'm a level 50 facing off against 54s... with like, two true attack powers [not including vet stuff]. Wheeeee.


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Another radical suggestion for you here. Try actually reading the descriptions of the arcs. Each mission has the level ranges it covers right there in the description box. So unless you actually can't read, there is no reason for you to have to log into the mission to discover that it is full of level 54s.

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There may be low level MA stuff out there, but we Type As are not feeling like slowly trolling through everything in the MA in a futile search to find it. I am after efficient use of my low-level time, and continually zoning in and going "ZOMG, no!" *quit TF* I do not consider efficient. I want to level, not go on an Easter Egg hunt that never quite pans out.

Back to the sewers I go! AGAIN. I'd rather do a sewer run than fight someone's stupid, unkillable boss.

Also, LOL at those with nothing better to do than show up out here complaining about other people's posts.

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Try actually looking at the MA forum, for the threads of low level arcs instead of picking random arcs to try in the game. Then search for the ID number in the MA. (You do know there is a search function in the MA right? Really not hard to use.) And until I15 is released, you can also search for LBMA, which is used by a lot of arc creators to indicate low level arcs.

And if you really want efficient, leveling up multiple times without having to take a step between missions, with the inspiration seller not 40 feet away, and the hospital less than 30 seconds away from the mission doors seem a lot more efficient than running sewer teams. But hey, whatever floats your boat.

Unfortunately, no you aren't missing anything. For bosses, you have to pick a particular one, there is no way to just have it pick one out of a custom group to fit the level range of the mission or to exclude particular mobs.

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I don't think anyone - certainly not myself - is advocating the removal of levels 1-20. What has been begged for, FOR YEARS, is some additional things to do to make these levels go by faster.

Since powering through the lower levels via the MA is verboten, we need new low-level stuff to do more than ever before. If you don't see it that way I am sorry, but plenty of others do.

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Here is a radical thought. Since you want new content for the low levels, and you are not supposed to use the MA system for PLing to 50 in a few hours, why don't you try playing the MA content for the new stories that are in it? I know there are low level arcs in the system, I have written a couple myself, and there are 2 or 3 threads here on the forums about just that subject.

You would get new story arcs to read and experience, you would be using the MA the way the Devs envisioned it, and maybe, just maybe, you would be spending less time here on the forums complaining about things. That's 2 wins for you and 1 for everyone else on the forums, so we all come out ahead.

My guess? The creators think they have suddenly found the ultimate in farming setups and nobody else knows about it, so they post it. That way everyone else can see their UBAR L33tne55.

Either that or they are too stupid to figure out the search function.

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1. The character of Lt. Jameson in mission 1 - you said that this character should be male? I am just curious if whether the character is male or female makes any difference.

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Well, it's a male name. It kinda looks like you were useing it as a last name but every Jameson I know it's their first name and they're all male.

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I have to say, I have never met anyone that had Jameson as a first name, but there are many people that have it for a last name. Are you perhaps thinking of the name James? Which shortens into Jim or Jimmy or Jamey.

Neat idea, and it would actually really fit in an arc I am tinkering with now. Too bad it isn't going to happen.

There are also Energy Blasters. The Dark powersets are about sucking energy out of things, Energy blasters are about pumping a bunch of energy into the target. Which usually doesn't react well to the experience.

The first thing you do is go down to this section of the forum. You can start a thread on your arc there, asking for feedback on it. You can also try adding it to the various review threads, if you are willing to take a chance on getting it mauled in public. There are also a few separate web sites, like COH Mission Review where you can post information about it.

Well, outdoors there is no final room for them to defeat. It is all one big room, with no back, front, or middle. So you can't really have a final room.

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Has anyone managed to get the "Defeat all enemies in final room" option to work? I tried it on maps with a very clear front, middle and back, and the objective refused to complete until I'd pretty much cleared the map.

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It has worked on my one mission okay. You may have run into something that happens to me on occasion in regular missions. If a patrol spawns in the final room, it is included in the mobs you have to defeat to complete the mission. But since they are patrols, they can wander off and if you miss them, you can empty the final room and wonder why it didn't end. That is why you want to be sure any patrols you set are for mid or front spawning, but even that does not always work.

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I wouldn't know as I always 1 star Defeat All containing arcs. That's a hint.

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That's pretty idiotic, really, considering a ton of maps have 12-8 spawn points or less for mobs. If that's too much for you to handle on occasion...

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I 0 star them ...

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That's pretty sad, but whatever floats your boat I guess. If that's what you have to do to get your kicks in game, well, I suppose you gotta do what you gotta do.

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Yeah, it's sad ... I cry every time I give out a 0 star vote .....

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Then you will be very glad to know that as soon as I15 hits you will never ever have to give a 0 star rating again. Okay, you won't be able to give a 0 star rating. They have removed it. Now you won't have to cry any more.

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Of all the ones I have played with defeat alls, the story DID NOT justify it being a defeat all, AT ALL.


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In your opinion. I have one Defeat All, on a small map, and one Defeat All in Final Room, where the map size doesn't really make a difference. If I didn't feel they made sense for the situation and the story, I would not have included them, because of... people, like Daemodand who either don't read or don't think.

If you are so dead set against Defeat All missions, then you can certainly avoid them. But you may be ending up missing out on some good stories because of it.

So just Edit your published arc then save it as a local file. Open that file with a text editor, make your changes, then edit your published arc again and do a copy & paste of your changes.

Taunt is the level 10 power for all Tanker Primaries. It is not necessary for soloers, but if you are planning on teaming, especially duoing with someone, it is a very good idea to take it then. For beginners, I would recommend Willpower first, then Invulnerability, because there are a couple of tricks to Invulnerability that are not obvious until you learn more about the game. And the best way to find them out is to hit the Tanker Forum, there are all kinds of people that will fill your head with information and advice. Most of it is even pretty good.

North America

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Played through Simple Times on my still-level-eight DB/Regen scrapper. Total run time was a touch over an hour. Someday I'll think to look at the clock before I start the arc.

I wound up giving this arc three stars. It was "good" but it felt like a nearly step-by-step retread of Future Skulls. I know it's a sequel but the plot plays out almost identically with the hero chasing an object needed for some end-of-the-world shennanigans and missing it every step of the way until you're forced to stop the event which you would have prevented if you or the contact had shown any compentance three missions ago. I don't remember Future Skulls exceptionally well since I played it several weeks ago but I believe I rated it a 4 or 5 at the time. This just felt like the same thing. It was put together well with no flaws or major errors, it just didn't offer anything new.


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I have to say, in all of the feedback I have received, that is the first time I have gotten that particular thought. In the first one, you were looking for information that would lead you to what was going to happen, knowing you are chasing the Skulls. In this one you are chasing a particular object, with the information that the Skulls were involved not even coming until the 4th mission.

You are going from mission to mission, beating people up, clicking glowies. But that is pretty much all we can do in any mission. So I am really not sure what I could do about that. But not everything can be 5 star.

I am not sure why you think the contact and player were being incompetent. Talshak was casting spells to find the artifact, the location would be revealed to him, and he sent you off to get it. He didn't realize that he was being deceived at first, but would you really expect him to, when the simplest explanation is that between him finding it and you getting there, it had been moved?

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Other minor things, none of the critters have any special text in the first group of missions. It would have been nice to see something special about The Seeker or the Hellion boss. In mission #4, I was able to reach the third floor without fighting a soul due to a very sparsely populated map. I saw a little patrol flavor text on the sides of the sides of my screen but didn't bump into anyone.

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Well, the reason there was nothing special in the descriptions of the bosses is that there was nothing special about them. They were just like any other boss in a low level arc, generic bosses with a name attached to them. On mission 4 it sounds like you just got lucky. Or unlucky, as the case may be. I don't know why it didn't spawn more for you to fight, but I really don't have any control over that part.

Thanks for running the arc and your review of it. I am holding off on editing either of my arcs or putting up the 3rd one until after I15. But it is always good to get other POV.