Lazarus
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:Screw the 5-stars, everyone gets inflated to five-stars at the beginning by their friends until the real ratings come in and the law of averages takes hold. Most of the quality stuff is in the massive 4-star area, most of the 5-stars are grossly inflated.Originally Posted by KaliMagdalene
Do a search for 5-star arcs, and you'll see them all. You can filter by number of stars in searches. -
Quote:They're also constantly hogging the 1st page, which should be displaying random 5-star and 4-star arcs instead to give other people a chance. Also the ratings on a DC don't mean jack, it was discovered back in beta that DC arcs are permanently 5-starred. We found that out when some new ones were added and found that no matter how many times it was rating anything other than 5-stars the count went up but the average never went down.Originally Posted by KaliMagdalene
I'm not saying they're the best in the MA, but they're a good start, and they're handily indexed.
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Quote:While he could use his own tileset for a long time now, I think it's pretty obvious that people aren't crying for more Nemesis when you look at see how few storyarcs there are in MA featuring Nemesis compared to all the other enemy groups.Originally Posted by Golden_Girl_EU
Nemesis needs more stuff to reflect the way he's become such a major player now - like he should get his own steampunk lab maps, instead of having to use the Crey ones.
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Another reason why the old content needs some overhauling is because of an issue that has bothered me since issue 9: how utterly absent Arachnos is from most of the CoH content.
Really, other than scanner missions (which you can easily avoid on the way to 50 since the old contact system still exists) where do you fight Arachnos? The PvP zones that hardly anyone uses? Faultline? The Statesman Task Force?
Really, why is this massive group that the villain plays have to deal with constantly over in CoV so easy to skip around by the heroes in CoH? It is very possible to go the entire way from 1 to 50 in CoH and never fight Arachnos once if you know the few places where they show up and avoid them. Try doing that with Longbow over in CoV.
If anything, the pre-issue 5 content needs to be retconned to include some more Arachnos presence.
Let me add in another gripe, the new arcs that were added in issue 13. Were those written by someone with no experience with the game or did the Devs just forget all the lessons that they had learned and applied over the last several issues. Mercedes Sheldon is a big offender here, especially with the second mission in her third hero arc. Right now I've decided to just wait for my mission drop timer to recharge as I'm not clearing out an entire Atta cave map of warriors nor am I recruiting a team to put through that nonsense.
And can we get an effin' hospital in Striga already! I don't want to go through that zone either as whenever I do get killed I have to come all the way back from Talos or IP. That is especially unacceptable during a Moonfire or Hess TF. The Hollows has one, RWZ has one, Cimerora has one, even Dark Astoria had one right from the beginning. What is the hold up? -
Quote:Agreed. I found most of the Dev Choice arcs to be rather mediocre and Hall of Fame is just a measure of popularity, not quality. Remember that most of the DC's were chosen way back in issue 14 closed beta when the players barely knew how to use the MA tools. Things have progressed very much since then and the DC arcs already show their age.Originally Posted by Toony
In my experience devs choice does not mean an arc is good, has good writing, lack of custom groups, or is fun. It means one thing. A dev liked it. And tastes differ alot.
The reason that feels less obnoxious is that not only is the story in installments, but if you decide that you want to bail out or do the rest later in Oro then you only need to do 1 or 2 more missions and then you don't have an unwanted arc clogging up the queue rather than a dozen missions that you don't want to do.Quote:Originally Posted by Noxilicious
One suggestion I saw here, I forgot by whom, is to split the mega-arcs into several smaller arcs. I'm entirely certain that might just fix the problem of tediously long arcs. I have to think of Mage-Killer Zuhkara's arcs: She has three or four of them, all relatively short with three missions, but they're all connected, all essentially one large arc, and I found it so much easier to do three or four small arcs than one mega-arc.
Just because a critter is interesting to look at doesn't mean that they're interesting to play against. So many of the official critters have a total of 1 to 2 powers. They're so damn predictable, you know just what they will do in any situation at any time. Even the weakest custom critters have twice that and can make for much more interesting fights as they won't always do the same things repeatedly.Quote:Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
The normal in-game NPCs aren't that fascinating, that is true, but they are different from what I can make in the costume editor. I've seen a lot of the combinations in that editor, I've seen a lot of people's costumes and gone through a lot of my own. What the editor produces isn't novelty to me. As I said, outside of a particularly cool player character or boss character design, I haven't seen anything I've found interesting. Player minions are just... Well, player characters, and the great majority of those just aren't interesting. The great majority are also not spectacularly well designed. -
Hey LJ, have I told you to play this new one of mine yet?
Arc ID: 296884
Arc Title: A Show of Hands
Morality: Villainous
Level Range: 40-54
Length: 4 Missions
Description: Things go topsy-turvy when just a couple of hours before the sale somebody robs your fence. Get the item back in time and teach the thieves a lesson about stealing from the likes of you. (Ambush-heavy, teams or strong soloers recommended.) -
Quote:I hope so, just checked my PayPal account and looks like I've not been keeping anything in it for a while.Originally Posted by John_Printemps
This'll definitely be around for a bit, so I'm sure you'll have time
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Quote:I very much agree. Another problem bugs me is how a lot of arcs are restricted to certain level ranges in annoying ways.Originally Posted by SlickRiptide
After reading the last few postings, I'm revising my thinking. Maybe what really needs to happen is that everything is stripped out of the opening levels that isn't storyline related in some way. The pre-20 levels should be nothing BUT storylines that introduce new players to the backstory of the city, and that give the veterans something interesting that they're doing as opposed to vanilla time-filler jobs that they've done a million times.
Example, right now I'm working through the kheldian arcs and it gets annoying in that I have to make sure to finish them all on time as each as a set level range. This means that if I get sidetracked and join a TF or lackey up to a big high-level team and level past the maximum of the arc that I started earlier, I am now stuck having to finish that arc before I can begin the next one. That gets really annoying as each arc is 6-8 missions long and I could be wading through several defeat alls (which they also have too much of) full of greys just so I can get back to content at my level.
The Rikti War Zone on the other hand handles this well by giving each arc a set minimum level but no maximum level. You can start the level 35 arc given by the first contact on a level 47 character and it will be a level 47 arc. Granted that is easier as the enemy groups involved are all designed to run the entire 35 to 54 range but still, it'd be nicer if the Kheldian arcs at least gave some leeway in the max level of each arc. -
Level 35? Then it's time to play "MacGuffin Delivery Service" (#1567) if you haven't already. The whole issue with Carnies not spawning below 40 for heroes ought to be resolved now. Let me know if it still happens, so I can be angry at the Devs some more.
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Quote:Still doesn't excuse them from at least moving the mission doors so that there is less needless zoning. I get really annoyed with contacts who give missions that are everywhere EXCEPT in the zone they are standing in.Originally Posted by NuclearToast
Unfortunately, except for updating arc maps (Freakalympics, Tsoo tattoo parlor, etc.), I think there's a sort of "written in stone" aspect to all content. So let it be written, so let it live forever.
--NT
It ranks up there with another of my pet peeves of the heroside that the villainside rarely does, sending me to missions in areas over my level too early. Getting to the mission door to find that it's got a big spawn of deep-purple enemies sitting on top of it gets old really fast. -
Quote:And this is why I keep saying that a Dev or two need to be assigned to go back and overhaul the old content to get rid of this nonsense. Even cutting out some of the redundant defeat all missions (that alone would cut the length of many old TFs in half) would go a long way.Originally Posted by Nethergoat
or, why MA (and before MA Radio missions) appeals to so many players.
Running Tina McIntyre's arc with a scrapper. Things are going along fine, then I hit a 'defeat all' hydra mission. Okay, the map isn't too huge, no problem.
"Oh you beat the hydras...okay, now run to Brickstown and talk to this guy on the other side of the zone!"
Well, I don't run that many story arcs and it's been a while since I did one of these annoying FedEx missions, so alright, off I go.
Oro to Bricks, run across the zone to the hospital, talk to the guy, get the totally predictable mission right back where I started...and it's the same freakin' kill all, on the same freakin' map that I just cleared.
Oh wait, this time there are some glowies to click and a boss to beat, so I guess that makes it okay?
Logged out in annoyance to check the market on some of my other characters and to whine about it here.
Just a reminder to everyone that there's a reason lots and lots of players prefer the convenience of content that doesn't send you all over the world before handing you a carbon copy of the mission you just did.
Another annoying example is a Crey arc where you have to access three computers. Instead of all three being in one lab they are each in a different lab, each in a different zone! Ok, it might make some sense in story terms but it's really annoying in gameplay terms. -
I always thought that the destination list when you use the trains and ferries should include the level range of each zone.
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Now if only they'd announce a "Don't have to see other people's 'creative' power colors" setting as well.
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We have always been at war with Oceania.
Or was it EastAsia? Whatever, we've always been at war with them as well. -
Quote:He does have a valid point. This game has been getting more and more n00b-friendly over the last few issues. I don't know how much of it was unintended consequences or sheer short-sightedness, but now with the new features coming up in i16 the Devs are just going ahead and trivializing all of the games content.Originally Posted by LordXenite
Further more, since the Devs allowed double-XP in AE, and I16 will implement a new Difficulty Settings system and a "new" auto-SK feature will be introduced, I see these changes as a sign that the game is evolving into a faster level-grinder game where the content you blow through is meaningless anyway.
The stories themselves, may be better, but as long as just one person can immerse in them, the team leader, and as long as people urge the team onwards into the next group of enemies, stories will play a backseat role to blowing through the levels, which to me means this isn't an MMORPG, but simply an MMO, just like all the others, and that's definitely not what I thought the Devs were trying for.
Rather than playing up their strengths they're instead trying to cater more to the lowest common denominator in yet another attempt to expand their playerbase in a way that will just as likely drive more long-timers away instead. One can wonder if that is their plan. -
I think it's a combination of the improved search tools allowing us to avoid the bad arcs more easily and a lot of the authors who were making bad arcs have moved on.
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Quote:Same here. I got a comment last week and figured that the OP must have been out of town for a while or something, then these new ones got posted. Is he spacing the updates or something?Originally Posted by ArrowRose
First I wanted to say thank you and your group for playing my arc. One of your team mates in gamed PMd me a 5 stars and a reason that made me smile. In your official in game feedback you told me to look for feedback in this thread.
I can't seem to find it. If you could post it or point me to it (I do have those days), I would really appreciate it.
Thanks
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Quote:Anyone who doesn't get the reference is made of fail.Originally Posted by GlaziusF
It's an Oscillation Overthruster with the serial numbers filed off.
I don't believe it's a recovery, you have to save Dr. Prinny from the BBI who refuses to divulge the secrets of same. -
Nice.
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Changes made to "A Show of Hands":
* Added a clue to the Assault Bot in mission 1.
* Fixed a typo in one of the ambush dialogs in mission 2.
* Added a clue to the Battle Drone in mission 4. -
Quote:I suppose I can throw in a clue to make it more apparent, but the Robot was part of the warehouse inventory and was inactive until the Freaks powered it up and reprogrammed it. I figured the unaware dialog would have gotten that across.Originally Posted by GlaziusF
Oh. That's interesting. They had a giant robot to help them.
...which is different from your average Tank Freak by the meat content of the average Tank Freak's lunch.
Well unless you also found some pre-mixed drums of ammonium nitrate and diesel fuel to strap them to, how would you explain all those large bombs fitting inside that little crate?Quote:Originally Posted by GlaziusF
Can you size up these bomb-planty clickers? Transparent is hard enough to see but they're so tiny. SO TINY.
With the implication in Jeetal's dialog when she meets you at the door that they may have let you follow that one there so they could ambush you with more backup.Quote:Originally Posted by GlaziusF
Oh, somehow I... tracked one down? O... kay.
Like the rest of the glowies, he's there for fun and flavour. I don't expect him to do much more than serve as cannon fodder for a couple fights.Quote:Originally Posted by GlaziusF
But really, why fake it? I know allies and timed missions don't play well together, but this is a freakin' level 40 story arc. A little robodroid isn't going to swing the boss fight one way or another.
Depending on how big that undisclosed amount was (you saved the bank note as a souvenir for a reason) 10% is likely to be a huge amount.Quote:Originally Posted by GlaziusF
And after all that horrible runaround I... made the sale after all? Uh. Not that I'm complaining but "great job here's another 10 percent" is something you say to a shoe salesman.
Maybe if the Devs gave a way to give a different souvenir if you fail the final mission of the arc. Plus it makes the writing much tougher if the 2nd or 3rd mission failed but you still show up at the next mission just fine.Quote:Originally Posted by GlaziusF
Timers! We got 'em so use 'em!
It is meant to be a fast arc played at a "balls to the wall" pace. As such I threw a lot of clues, probably more than needed, so you can read back if you think you missed something.Quote:Originally Posted by Bubbawheat
The full plot of this story is a little confusing, intentionally, as it's hard to tell sometimes who's coming and who's going. This is of course exacerbated by the fact that I tend to play later at night and occasionally lose details. -
Quote:You already know that answer.Originally Posted by TerminusEst13
I'm not sure what cleaning has to do with military-grade artillery and a gigantic ****-off mace, but then again I'm not a maid.
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I don't have a nice breakdown of what is 3-star and what is 5-star or what not. My rating system is rather arbitrary, there is no formula.
Basic breakdown
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5-stars = Excellent: May have some flaws that can be easily fixed. I'd probably play it again, will drag friends into it, recommend it to others.
4-stars = Good: Very competently made but has a few minor flaws or one serious one. Of course it could have no flaws per say but just lacked the "oomph" to make it really interesting.
3-stars = Average: Competently made but has numerous minor flaws or a couple serious ones.
2-stars = Below Average: Not very competently made. Has multiple major flaws.
1-star = Very Poor: Why did you even publish this?
3-Stars, being Average, is my baseline. It's as well made as a paper/scanner mission but lacks anything special to set it apart. From here I add and subtract stars for various things.
Things I add to the rating for:
* Interesting story elements.
* Well-balanced custom critters.
* Interesting custom critter designs and backgrounds.
* Good use of details and objectives.
* Well-used complex mechanics (chained objectives, triggered glowies, etc..)
* Nice use of animations. (Is everyone standing around waiting to be beaten up or actually doing something?)
* Interesting allies that are not overpowered.
* Humor that doesn't go overboard. (I prefer lampshade hanging and witty dialog. Make the humor intelligent.)
Things I subtract from the rating for:
* Glaring plot-holes that you can fly a 747 through.
* Overpowered custom critters (Can be forgiven if it's just one encounter or a single critter that needs fixing. Not forgiven if entire custom groups are horribly balanced.)
* Custom Critters without descriptions. (Big mark of laziness.)
* Overpowered allies that have no business being there story-wise.
* Archvillains and Elite Bosses when a Boss would have done and the story would not have changed.
* Missing objective text. (Who is CharacterName and what am I supposed to do with them?)
* Missing glowie interaction text.
* Allies with no dialog.
* Named bosses with no dialog.
* No mission entry pop-up. (C'mon, they're standard in scanner/paper missions even!)
* No clue given when there should have been one. (I shouldn't need to keep notes to remember what happened 3 missions back when I'm just playing for fun and not reviewing.)
* Defeat Alls in any map that is more than a couple rooms.
* Authors who think that "Challenge" means all Bosses or an Archvillain every 20 feet. (If you cannot make a challenging Minion or Lieutenant then you're not really trying.)
My general rule is "4-stars for fun", so if I enjoyed the arc it will get at least 4-stars. If it doesn't then that means I didn't enjoy it and won't be recommending it to anyone. -
Quote:I can top that, back in early CoH beta when you used the train there was no menu for the destination zone. Yep, you had to visit every single station in the loop.Originally Posted by tuter_king
I went to the wrong place in the train so i was going to go to the place i wanted to from the train. I clicked on the train but did not let me in i tried to get in about 100 times when i shouted on the broadcast then someone told me there were two places in the train one were you go in and one were you go out.
Well after going from Atlas Park to Galaxy City to Kings Row to Steel Canyon and finally Skyway City, I forgot about how the stations worked and could not figure out how to make it backwards as I thought I was at the end of the line or something.
So there I was, instead trying to run back to Atlas Park across Skyway City at level 4, dying multiple times and being sent back to the hospital near the train station until someone told me what I already should have known. -
Wow, this queue is already very long. I guess I'll still sneak Naga Obscura into it. She's just begging to be chibi'ed.