Justice Blues

I just want some spawn points added to the Midnight Club map. The front area where you enter the club.

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Thanks for the info and taking the time to run the arc. Ironically I thought I had corrected the interrogate spelling issue before. Thanks about the dialogue in the end mission, the paragonwiki may be helpful as I really have no idea what to write for that particular group. The last boss is supposed to summon at the end of the mission, and it is odd because about 50% of the time it is at the end in the second tunnel and 50% of the time he spawns pretty much at the front door. Not really sure how to correct that one.

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I thought that might be the problem with the final boss. Nothing you can really do to definitely fix it. One thing you can try, to minimize it (you hope anyway ) On the mission detail page, where is that spawn in the list? In general, the game places spawns in order of that list. So ideally, you would want the final boss spawn second, right after the encounter that causes him to spawn. If you have that, you are pretty much stuck with whatever the game wants to do for placement.

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Arc# 25911

So you want to join the Agency?

This arc has AV's if you are on larger teams with the settings high. I run it solo on challenge lvl 4 and that keeps them to EB's which are manageable. I am looking for input on the story, concept and dialogue of the NPC's in the mission if anyone can help out.


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Just ran this with my 50 Inv/SS tank on Challenge level 2. Not completely IOed out, but with a good number of Set Bonuses.

First problem was the attitude of the contact toward the player. It was not too bad in the first mission, but the later ones made it seem like the player was a newbie just starting out. Even at the lowest levels the missions can be played, this just sounds and feels wrong.

You have the basis of a good story, or at least a fun one, but the attitude of the contact was immersion breaking.

There was also a disconnect in the story. Even reading all of the clues and the mission text, it did not flow easily. It was especially apparent with the third mission, with the sudden addition of the Rikti. Some foreshadowing of that would help.

The EBs were not too bad. Although the custom EB in the last mission is enough of a pain without 2 ambushes. Especially the second one with the multiple debuffers and end drainers. I had to kite them away from the EB to beat them, and the only reason I could was Unstoppable. They may be easier on a team, but solo control specialists will not be able to get through. You mention the AV/EBs being in the arc, but that doesn't stop most of us.

Typo, it is interrogate, not interrigate. It is spelled incorrectly in 3 or 4 different places in the third mission. But that was the only one that stood out.

Spawning the last boss at the front of the the map on the last mission? Bad idea. Having to run all the way back to find him is not fun. If it just happened to spawn there for me, make sure it is one of the first encounters you have in the mission details. That may not stop it from happening, but it will keep it to a minimum.

Your dialogue for the last boss in the last mission? Very bad. One reason I avoid that particular group is how hard it can be to write their dialogue. Best thing to do is look at the information on them at ParagonWiki and run the dialogue by several different people familiar with the group.

Like I said, a decent story, although not really my normal cup of tea. The attitude of the contact toward the player and the final dialogue are the real weak points.

My next one that could use a look:

Title: Simple Times
ID: 70801
Levels: 4-15
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,ID 4727. [SFMA/LBMA]

That doesn't really make sense. It would be much easier to remove the mobs from the MA if the Devs really didn't want them used. And since it hits pretty much most of the already created characters in the game, right down to Penolope Yin, it is hardly something that is limited to high level mobs.

Or, you could go ahead and post them in this stickied thread that already has multiple pages.

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Custom characters are always 1-54. To restrict it, you have to add a mob that IS level restricted, from the "regular" game.

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This will not restrict the level of the custom group. It will just cause that mob to be added to the spawns during the levels that mob can appear.
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If you want a mission to only cover a particular range of levels, there needs to be something in the mission that is limited to appearing in those levels.

[/ QUOTE ]That's what Decorum meant. Add the restricted standard critter to the mission, not to the group.

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I am sure that is what he meant. But what he said could easily be read to apply to the custom group, rather than the mission, and with the number of people asking this question, it is better to be as explicit as possible.

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Custom characters are always 1-54. To restrict it, you have to add a mob that IS level restricted, from the "regular" game.

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This will not restrict the level of the custom group. It will just cause that mob to be added to the spawns during the levels that mob can appear. If you create a custom group with just regular mobs in it, like all of the CoT minions from level 20-40, then that custom group will only cover levels 20-40. If there is even 1 custom critter in that custom group, the group will have a level range from 1-54, but the CoT will only spawn from 20-40. All other spawns at other levels will be that custom critter.

If you want a mission to only cover a particular range of levels, there needs to be something in the mission that is limited to appearing in those levels. It can be a patrol, an ambush, a boss, a hostage, or an ally. If you use Flower Knight as an ally or hostage or boss in a mission, the mission will spawn at level 1. Which can be a surprise if you are not expecting it.

They haven't been put in yet. Like a lot of other stuff, so don't give up yet, just be patient.

I agree with the others here, send feedback to the creator. I played an arc yesterday that was pretty fun. But I was on an Inv/SS tank. The minions and Lts. were basically Fire/Fire blasters and Ice/Ice blasters. Doesn't sound like that bad, until they start stacking immobs, holds, and slow effects on you from up to a dozen mobs. For the final fight, against an EB, I started with a 45% recharge bonus. Before I got him to 3/4 health, my recharge was completely bottomed out. I had 8 attacks on my tray, and I was sitting there waiting for the next one to recharge so I could use it, then wait for the next. Worst part was, I got the EB down to 1/4 health and he ran away. I couldn't chase him, and certainly couldn't stop him, so I failed the last mission in a 5 mission arc.

Needless to say, I was not happy about this experience. But I didn't give him a zero or anything. I did send some detailed feedback about his mobs being way too tough for most people. And that having guaranteed fails set up for people on the last mission is not a good thing.

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What if you made a custom enemy group consisting only of family? Would that fix the problem? Or are the critters themselves not set to spawn for heroes?

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It doesn't fix the problem. The setting is with the mobs, not the group. There is something similar with the COT, the mission says it is for a large level range, but they will not spawn correctly for villains.

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However, one thing I *can* recommend to avoid the charge of "just a bunch of things that happen" is to not actually *make* just a bunch of things that happen.

One thing I'm noticing in the arcs I play is that in some cases, it seems pretty obvious that the author essentially wrote a bunch of different missions, with whatever maps they thought would be cool, whatever bosses they thought would be cool, and whatever objectives they thought would be cool. Then they attempted to sprinkle "plot-dust" on them, to try to connect them.


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When I read this, my first thought was that someone could easily think that is what happened with my second arc, Simple Times. It originally had 4 missions, with 4 different villain groups. Now it has 5 missions, with 4 villain groups. Plus a custom group. So just looking at the description in the MA would not be very promising.

But in reality, I planned the entire story arc, although I did swap a couple of groups for level reasons. And some excellent feedback caused some re-writing to put in the second mission, using one of the groups a second time.

I don't know about being really skilled but the feedback I have received so far has been pretty positive. So the only way to really know if it is JABOSTH is to start it up and play.

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As for removing the enemies in a group... I wasn't able to. I just deleted the group and started fresh

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Each custom critter has ONE base custom group. They can then be added to other custom groups but the BASE group never changes.

You CAN change that base group by editing the critter itself and changing the group on the naming screen (that is its BASE group)

Why do I mention this? Because a critter can't be removed from its BASE group but it CAN be from any other group.

hope that helps.

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Another reason to keep this in mind. Some of my custom bosses were originally created in a different group, then added to the group used in a mission. When they were played by other people, the group name of the bosses were coming up the original group name, not the one that was in the mission. The name showed up correctly for me, but not for anyone else running the mission. I had to go into the mission and edit the custom boss, saving them in that group, before the name change went through to others.

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I had a lot of problem trying to delete standards out of my groups. I kept pressing remove but everytime I came back they were in. I couldn't get them off my big custom critters list either till I went into the folder on my computer and manually deleted them.

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Wanna trade?

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Both of you are probably editing the Custom Group in the Custom Group tab. This works great, unless you have already created a mission that uses that Custom Group. If you have, all the information in the Group is saved in that mission. So you edit the Custom Group (or Critter, works the same way for them) and make the changes you want. Then you fire up the mission, and it overwrites the Custom Group changes you just made.

To make permanent changes in a Custom Group (or Critter) you need to edit from the mission. Find the place in the mission where you used the group, click on the Edit Custom Group button, and make the changes you want in that screen. Save the changes (I always save the changes first, then click the button for Save Changes and Exit. Better safe then sorry.) and when you get back to the mission, save the changes there. That should take care of your problems.

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noone has even played mine yet.. well outside of one freind. guess people dont like hellions and skulls

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Go to the MA Forum, sign up for one of the review threads, do the Critique an Arc sticky thread at the top (critique one of the arcs listed, then list yours), IOW, advertise.

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For those wondering how the MA complaint system works, there was a blog post a few days back from Hero 1 that goes into details on how the system works. It made slashdot, which is how I found out about it. Let me go dig through slashdot to find the link....

Ok. Here we go.

As a short synopses, arcs are pulled automatically after they receive X complaints, with X increasing as the arc gets more and more non-complaint ratings. They can be republished once when pulled, but if pulled a second time they must be appealed to CS, and evaluated by a live person. And it's only at this third stage that CoH CS gets involved. The first two pullings are done totally automatically done by the system.

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I attempted to re-publish a banned arc and it was just deleted. Completely gone. Which sucks because i didn't have a local copy of it.

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Happened to me too--I modified the description to make it clear it wasn't a farming mission. And while I have a local copy, it's not completely up to date.

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Okay, there is a problem here, besides any unwarranted bannings. Mission are not supposed to be getting deleted. Read the article again. The description there is exactly how it worked during testing in Closed and Open Beta. The mission was unpublished, not deleted, including when it was escalated to CS. If your missions are being deleted completely, then either someone in CS is not doing things correctly, or there is a bug in the system.

Either way, you need to be escalating this through the CS system to find out what is going on.

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Arc #4727, "Future Skulls"
tl;dr: 4 stars. Offenses: minor plot issues, a bit heavy-handed, possibly annoying maps


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Thanks for the review.

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Mirror Spirit has had a premonition of Skulls implementing some plan that leads to destroying the city. She has called upon you to investigate. The first lead takes you to a Skull hideout. (I dropped my difficulty to CL2 for this and used my second build as the level range caps at 14.) The map is a version of the burning Hellions map I hadn't seen before. Bonesnap (Boss) is present but not required. You have to search some bookcases to find a tome the clue describes as "disturbing".


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Actually, it is a Skulls hideout, or it is supposed to be. That is why the Superadine vials all over the place.

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You don't get to find out what you discovered until the Act II briefing. The Skulls have decided that the best way to cause lots of destruction is to waker Merulina, the "goddess" of the Coralax. It's not really clear why they want to do this, as random destruction has never been a big thing for the Skulls.


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While we usually just see the Skulls doing the street gang thing, or trying to break into the big time organized crime scene, their backstory says "They are a death cult, of sorts, who seek personal glory and power through death, no matter whose." While most of the Bone Daddies settle for the turf wars, I wanted a story about one that was shooting for the really big time.

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For Act III it's time for an act of desparation...Mirror Spirit has made arrangements with the Midnight Squad to use their Aspect of the Pillar to send you to the future she witnessed in her premonition in the hopes of finding out what happened. The map is the flooded Boomtown map. I quickly found a "Bride of Death", described as "filled with darkness, forced to kill to stay alive". She was a Dark Blast/Dark Armor Boss and on her death she thanked me for stopping her. In a Clue she tells you when and where the ceremony took place and gives you a dagger charged with magic.

The Act IV briefing contains a narrative about you waiting for the scrying results, followed by Mirror Spirit telling you that they've found the target near Salamanca and you have to be there to stop it -- any who try without your aid will fail. Neither she nor any of the Squad who helped her can go as "something dark" fought their efforts, draining them all and killing some. This is a bit heavy-handed, as I think we can expect the player will want to finish the arc by this point and if he doesn't he's not. You are also warned the mission is timed, though you aren't given the exact time limit (1 hour) pre-acceptance. The map is one of the Croatoa maps. You have to defeat Bonesnap and rescue two hostages, both familiar: Penelope Yin and Yanamari (from the Bonefire arc). Both women complain their powers have been drained. Bonesnap is now a custom Boss, Mace/Dark Armor in a bone motif costume. He was a bit of a pushover; it might be a good idea to turn up his powers a little or even promote him to Elite Boss. On completion Mirror Spirit tells you she will stay alert for more possible threats from whatever power the Skulls were contacting, as she doubts it will be satisfied with only one attempt at destruction. The story has a sequel in #70801, "Simple Times".

I had good luck with spawn placements on the two outdoor maps, but I could easily see those maps becoming major annoyances if the spawns aren't as conveniently located. The Croatoa map is moody but geographically too far from where the devastation is supposed to take place -- I'd recommend using the coastline instance from Talos. And Act IV's briefing lays it on a bit thick. Otherwise it's a pretty good arc.

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I know the maps can be a problem for low levels. I am actively working on finding a better map for the 3rd mission. I think I have one now that I am going to ask a couple of people to test for me. I will check the Talos map, to see how it looks for the last mission.

I emphasized the player's importance on the last mission because I wanted to place him front and center. Can't call in Statesman or Synapse, he has to go or it ends. Sure the player will probably want to see the final mission, but I wanted it to feel like his character was vital for it. The power draining and deaths were to keep Mirror Spirit & the Midnight Squad from rushing out to help. They have been searching hard for the ritual, of course they will rush out to save the world when they find the place and time. Unless they can't.

Bonesnap in the last mission has been a real pain. He was harder, but was taking out squishies fairly easily. Now he is too easy for some folks. I am afraid it is a case of Rock, Paper, Scissors with him. But I will try some more tweaking.

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Id like that too, KYasubaru. Unfortunately the developers dont seem to feel we're worthy of that ability (and I know the capacity to do it exists, because there are developer created missions where something /does/ spawn at exactly the same location every single time).


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Rather then them not feeling we are worthy of the ability, think of it as more like, how many more months did you want to wait to get it in? Perfect is the enemy of good enough, and they needed to get it good enough to get it out. Now they can datamine how things are working, find and fix the bugs that were hidden until it was stressed by real world loads, and add more features in future Issues.

Now we have an MA that we can use to tell some great stories, with the promise that it will get better. Because they know we want this stuff. Believe me, it was mentioned many times before Beta was opened up. Just don't irritate Positron too much, or he might give us the cut scene generator with its current user interface.

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I remember when you couldn't change your costume/there was only one slot. I also still remember what the original options were. It still blows my mind looking at the costume list we have now, as opposed to pre-I1.


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My main's first slot still has his original costume, with just the addition of auras when they first came out. I can't make any changes to it at all, because some of the options for it no longer exist.

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...you could hear toilet flushing if you stood near the restrooms in the train station?

[/ QUOTE ]You still can, can't you? I noticed that last year sometime.

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So far as I know you still can.

How about: Missions had not difficulty slider, and if you played solo and got an AV, you just had to wait a few levels until you could take him on.

Giant Monsters had levels. I remember soloing the Hydra and Adamaster, among others. Also the first Halloween GMs. If I remember correctly, the Winter Lords during the first winter event were the first GMs to have the "GM code" that makes them con purple at any level... but of course, they got the experience messed up when they did that.

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I remember soloing Adamastor. On my Inv/SS tank.

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...When an Invul Tanker at level 15 could Tank an entire mission of 21s and not need to be sidekicked?


Or was that last one just me?

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No, it was all of us.

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I think you mean Venture.

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Hey, I got the first letter right.

What KeepDistance said. Patrols usually work correctly, unless pushed out of an area by lack of spawn points. But Bosses can sometimes be off, and glowies always test, especially when you are trying to place them in the back of the map. And keep in mind, outside maps are totally random, there is on front, back, or middle on them.

You might want to go up to the Feedback forums and post this. The Devs might see it here, but they are almost certain to see it there.

This may be a bug, but it has to do with my custom critters. I have 2 bosses in my arcs Future Skulls and Simple Times. They were melee, so I gave them fly to keep people from hovering and plinking them to death. I also have some minions from a different group, that were created from the start with fly, they are both melee and ranged. None of the mobs from either group will fly. You can sit there forever slowly wearing them away, and they just take it.

This is not a good thing.

Got my second arc up, it is also low level, 5-15.

Simple Times
ID# 70801

No AVs/EBs, 5 missions, sequel to Future Skulls, ID# 70801, but stands well on its own.

Going to add my new one to your list, since my first one is in Vanden's.

Title: Simple Times
ID: 70901
Levels: 5-15
5 missions, no AVs/EBs. Sequel to Future Skulls, ID 4727, but hopefully the story doesn't require you to do it first.

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nope. All you can do with standard enemies is put them in groups. you can't change anything about them.

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Well, unless you set them as a boss encounter. That would allow you to show a different name and description for them. But for randomly spawned stuff, nothing can be changed.