Shard_Warrior

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Nice, cant wait to log in tonight!

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Run my new arc! Turbo has a wedding to attend!

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Sigh...

Waste of time for someone who'd actually like to get into PVP.

All death and no kills makes Cath a non-PvPer.

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I almost killed one! I share the sentiment though. It's a shame to see how badly the heal decay works.

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The good thing about heal decay is that its fixed on the next issue because it has its own option now to click in the arena if you want it on or off.

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Good to know! Thanks!

IMO, Heal Decay should not have been introduced in the first place. I tried bringing my poopy EMP with me and I was really shocked at how Heal Decay just ruins the use of healing sets in PvP. At one point, I hit Cath's toon with Heal Other, Absorb Pain and the heal Temp I got from the day job and it didn't even put a dent in his health.

Just wanted to add... I was with Cath on his team and I tried my EMP and my blaster. I didn't go into it expecting much either since none of my characters are built for PvP. Yeah we got farmed basically, but that didn't bother me as much as the changes made to the PvP system. Heal Decay was more disappointing to me than not getting any kills.

When we were all working on the Fusion Generator badge a few months ago, we were all joking about "Cobra Strike" and how mezzes are essentially useless now. Just as an example, I have the complete Absolute Amazement set in Cobra Strike on Shard and her stun lasted all of 2 seconds, even with accolade boosts. That, to me at least, is silly and I can see how the barriers of entry into PvP have become much higher and much more confusing to the average player.

Build requirements, IMO, are still far too diverse between PvP and PvE and I don't see many casual players wanting to invest the time to essentially learn their character all over again.

I also noted how the SS/SJ combo is still far superior to fly or TP and it seems an absolute must if you event want to survive in PvP.

Just my 2 inf, but the "improvements" did not do much for PvP at all. I'm no expert though. All in all I was glad to see people turning out for the event.

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I ran this Arc but didn't finish because DeVore thoroughly destroyed everyone, ((me included)). Also... Turbo Starr is a bit aggro friendly. He can turn a whole room against you before you are even ready. Lucky that doesn't last long because he's usually KOed by the time half the mission is over.

Maybe you should switch him to Defensive?

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He is set to defensive so he shouldn't be running off on his own. This was the third mission? I will double-check when I am home this evening but I am just about positive he is set to follow/defensive. I ran this a few times yesterday with some teams and he scooted off in the second mission once, but that was about it.

I've also noticed this behavior periodically in other arcs I have been running. The powersets for the NPC allies varied greatly, but every now and again some seem to run off for no reason. I'm also noticing bosses taking off when they are at 1/4 health, yet when I asked the authors about it they assured me that they are set to not run due to health.

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Bookmarked so I cn check this when the severs are up.

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Thanks! I'm interested to know if the dialogue for Lord Nemesis is more in-character for him, so any feedback on that as well as the dialogue for the other major villains, I would appreciate it.

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There are a lot of vets that are still around and in my opinion all the vets deserve to be in it. But that is just my opinion.

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Yes I agree and I would love to include everyone in what I am doing. Unfortunately, the MA file size restrictions prevent a person from using too many custom characters.

I was mainly looking for characters from our favorite toons - not the players themselves - who would fit the bill of being a member of an "Illuminati" type group in the fictional CoX world.

I'm going to try and include everyone like I did with "World War Mini"... I'll just have to switch the characters around and re-publish the arc periodically.

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I have a Mission that has 30 or so defend items and i want to have a ambush happen at each item but the AE say that i cant create more then 3 ambushes. I have seen something similar to what im doing and there were way more then 3 ambushes. What am i missing??

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What map are you using? The mini map shown in the editor will have some stats for your selected map. It will say on there what is allowed;

For example;

X allowed Boss, Ally or Rescue (X Front, X Middle, X Back)
X allowed Ambush (X Front, X Middle, X Back)
X allowed Collection

etc.

Hope that helps!

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spawn points - they're now displayed in the mini-map in the AE editor.

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Seriously?

. . .

*weeps for joy*

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Yes they are! And while this is a great feature that got added, it still does not solve some fundamental issues.

The map I'm using says it allows for 4 boss spawns (2 middle and 2 back) and 4 ambushes (2 middle and 2 back).

I have the boss set to "Back" and both ambushes (of which the boss is the trigger) set to "Back". The map says it allows for this, but the ambushes both spawn so far away (from my eyes the "middle of the map") that they either never show up or maybe 1 or 2 individuals arrive.

I forgot to mention in my initial post that both ambushes are allies, so I am not sure if this is what might be causing the problem.

I wish they would allow us to choose specific spawn points.

Again, as I've mentioned numerous times here you are entitled to your own opinion. You wrote a review and I thanked you for your time. I disagree with the rating and how you reached it, but again your opinion. In my opinion and no offense meant, your skills as a reviewer "fail spectacularly".

All I am trying to get across to you is that you say the story "fails spectacularly", but you don't see what you are posting in response is showing how it did indeed work in its intended purpose.

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Not all one-stars are one-stars because they're blatant farms where the only dialogue is "u go kil now". I don't believe I've ever had the displeasure of playing one those as part of this project. This one-star is a one-star because it tried to do grand things and, from where I'm standing, failed spectacularly.

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Read my original post where it is very clearly stated that the story is intended to be a prelude to a much larger story.

To educate you, from Wikipedia:

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A Prelude ("before play") is something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows after it.

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This arc introduces story elements as events preceding what is yet to come. The specifics of why the villains are banding together will follow later in future arcs as I initially stated in my original post.

Since you were able to grasp that the villains are banding together for an as yet unknown reason, how does this arc fail exactly? It is not intended to provide answers, only clues to the player that something larger is in the works as they go on the missions to rescue a hero.

What you're not seeing is that the story does in fact work based on your own ramblings and thought tangents.

Your own words:

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"What is the most reasonable out of all these three scenarios? Nemesis tells me something I should trust. (Or even if it's Crey! Crey judoed me into ending up on the wrong side of the law in that one arc about that one OS!) Malta tells me something I should trust. A hacker releases a new version of an old virus that circumvents the old means of neutralizing it."

...

"There are rumors about a non-aggression pact circulating the major villain groups; even some heroes are supposed to be signing on. Everyone who's tried to go public about its contents has been silenced."

....

"I mean, if the freakin' archvillains are just speedbumps in Part 0, what do you do to escalate? If Vanessa freaking DaVore is just a minor nuisance, who's an actual threat?"

...

What I'm wondering here is less "who are they all so afraid of" and more "which one of these guys is planning everything, and when are the knives going to come out". Maybe they're all gonna quintuple-cross each other, who knows.

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I am quite happy to read this because I know as the author, I got my intended goal across and you understood the clues being given to you. I'm sorry that you did not get exact answers to who is behind what and why yet. Again, "preludes" do not by definition provide the full picture. They provide hints of things to come.

You're expecting too much from this single arc without knowing what is yet to come. I could see if once the entire multi-arc story were completed and you were reviewing the entire story as whole you felt this part was not necessary, then I might be less inclined to question your ability as a reviewer. You are not at that point yet to know where the story is going and do not have the full picture, so to say that this "fails" is incorrect.

You're asking yourself "what is going on with this?" and "why are the villains banding together?" and "what are they up to?" and "who is going to turn on the others" etc.

This is exactly how it was intended to work and in my eyes, based on your own words, it has. The story provides a glimpse of things yet to come which is by definition a prelude and gets the player to ask some questions about what is going to happen in the future.

Working as intended and happy to say, not a 1 star rating by any stretch.

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*raises hand

Isn't the Illuminati bad??

>.>
<.<

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Depends upon your point of view.

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That fits so perfect what I'm working on.

If anyone would like to run the prelude to it all, run arc ID 232417 - "The Hero Who Loved Me" . Clues and events within the story will give you an idea of what is coming. Pay close attention to the villain dialogue and clues. Also, take into account that the missions you undertake are also playing a part in the story. When the contact tells you his "backstory" with the person you're trying to rescue, pay close attention to his reasons why they had a falling out.

I'm still trying to find a map that actually works like it should for the third mission, so my apologies if the spawns don't work 100%. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Stupit MA editor

Anyone interested in collaborating on the next phase of the story?

I saw and the map I'm using says this should work, but the ambushes spawn so far away (even though they are all set to the same location), they never arrive. I was hoping someone has used a map to do a similar setup that they know works.

Thanks though!

I have an arc that requires a map that can accommodate the following;

1 ally located in front
3 patrols (any location)
1 Boss (any location)
3 ambushes

The story requires that when the boss is attacked, 2 sets of ambushes are triggered - one at 3/4 health and the other at 1/2 health. The other ambush is when the ally is rescued.

I'm trying to find a generic warehouse map (or office) that will work right for this. The one I have now is technically correct (meaning it can accommodate the requirements), but the ambushes wind up so far away (even though the boss and ambushes are all set to the same location) that they either never make it there in time or just don't appear to move at all.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what map to try?

Thanks for taking the time to write a reply. It wasn't necessary, but I appreciate you doing so.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I was able to gather (albeit with great difficulty having to sift through meaningless train-of-thought commentary) what I was looking for in terms of a critique from your review.

A few things are fairly clear to me;

1. You tried running an arc on a character far too low in level for the villain NPCs contained in it (the devs have designed them for levels 45 to 50 for a reason).

2. You are not familiar with and therefore don't know how to critique stories that contain sub-plots.

3. Don't seem to have the imagination to expand beyond established canon with the CoX character groups, which at least IMO is one of the best things about the MA system.

4. Overall were expecting this arc to answer some questions that are not meant to be answered within it.

I also will maintain a 1 star rating is not fair, but you are entitled to your opinion. Feedback I have received via in-game tell, PM on the forums and that I have read elsewhere (including your own website) tells me that overall people enjoy the story for different reasons and are able to grasp what it is intended to do.

Again, I'll re-iterate that the story is not intended to answer why all the villain groups are banding together. It is meant to start a larger story that will. The romance aspect and rescue are the story that is taking place while the player uncovers more, although the contacts fears about their relationship "hurting the team" will (SPOILER WARNING!)come into play in the future since "choosing sides" will have a large part to play in the story. That is the intent and no one else so far besides you has had trouble understanding this much.

I'll also maintain that penalizing people for "bad spawning" on maps is unfair. I've seen the same maps used numerous times and the locations where bosses can spawn varies greatly. This is entirely out of a writers control and to penalize them for it is unfair and gives me the impression you are looking for things to criticize. As I said, when story creators are able to set exact spawn points on maps and they intentionally put them someplace bad, then I would agree with you. As others have mentioned, NPCs can become stuck in the map geometry and that is outside player control as well. I'm certain you criticize the writers for this as well.

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I mean, weren't you complaining about people putting Rikti onto the Fifth Last Stand map for no reason?

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First, I wouldn't "complain". I would let the author know that it did not seem to fit the story if appropriate and suggest they try something else. I don't go lambasting them for their choice and 1 star rating their arc. I try to see that someone is trying to do something unique. The Council using an old 5th Column base in a story is not that much of an imaginary stretch knowing the history of the two groups. If you lack the minimal amount of imagination to believe that it is within possibility it is a location they have not gotten around to "putting a fresh coat of paint on", then I don't know what to tell you. I believe that you are thinking this map is for 1 purpose in an Oro TF and should not be used for anything else. Not everything needs to take place in a bland warehouse or office. Those maps do get old after a while. I also understand that the MA system simply does not offer enough suitable locations for some stories at the present time. I personally give authors some slack. You choose to criticize them for it. Again, personal opinion and preference.

As an example, I've seen the Eden map used from everything to "Never Never Land" to "Fangorn Forest" to "Perez Park". In most all cases, I go along with what the author is doing with their story since I know they are limited in choices. Again, it is a personal preference.

I've run story arcs where Statesman (who is portrayed as a completely inept hero) and the Freedom Phalanx are defeated by a group of Hellions. Does that seem silly? Maybe to some, but I give the author credit for trying to do something unique.

Overall, you did seem to get the major points of what the story is trying to get across;

1. Someone planted an altered computer virus to take make it appear that it took out a Longbow base while the Rikti were invading. That someone isn't what they appear to be.

2. The villains are banding together for an unknown reason and not all of them seem to be in agreement about it. Whatever the reason, some of them seem nervous.

3. You don't know who is behind the villains uniting or why yet.

In terms of the final villain being "too weak" and "easily defeated within a handful of seconds", I chose this purposefully.

I'm more than happy to change him to a Psi Blast/Willpower AV that will 2 shot just about everyone who fights him and is un-killable unless you have a full team of nothing but debuffers, but that would make it too difficult for most to enjoy and therefore I am glad he can be soloed. I'd rather err on the side of "too easy" than "ridiculously hard" or "unbeatable".

Overall, I feel you were expecting too much and looking for answers to everything in 1 story. I believe I can understand why. After running through some of your arcs, it's fairly evident you want/need everything spoon fed to you and tied up neatly in a bow so you know exactly what to do and where without using any of your own imagination or asking the player to use theirs. Personally, I don't need my stories or objectives spoon fed to me as I feel it lacks a degree of realism, immersion and suspense. Based on the feedback I have received from others, they don't care for this style of storytelling either.

As I said, you are entitled to your opinion. As far as the 1 star rating is concerned, it would seem that I am not the only one who believes it is unfair, but again it is your choice to rate it that. Your review is honestly not so important to me that I feel others will not understand or enjoy the story.

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Sigh...

Waste of time for someone who'd actually like to get into PVP.

All death and no kills makes Cath a non-PvPer.

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I almost killed one! I share the sentiment though. It's a shame to see how badly the heal decay works.

Just to update: I've gone through the arc this morning and cleaned up quite a few things and made refinements to others. The sub-plot and basic mission objectives are highlighted now so it should be easy to distinguish them and follow the gist of the underlying plot.

I am looking for a better map for the 3rd mission since the ambushes do not spawn correctly with any kind of consistency, so if anyone can offer a better map to use, it would be appreciated.

It should also be clearer now that Torque wasn't the guy "pulling the strings".

Speaking of Torque and the Red Hand, I completely forgot that anyone interested in learning more about them and their relationship to Turbo and Starr Force SG, please run;

ArcID: 72447 "Extinction Agenda" by @Turbo Starr

It's a fun arc and best with a team

Thanks for running the arc and providing the great feedback. I very much appreciate your comments and for taking the time to read through everything and find all my typos!

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When I first enter, Turbo is surrounded by Rikti and holding his walky talky. He should either be a captive or in a combat pose. It just looked odd him standing there and his captives ignoring him.

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His dialogue when you find him is that he is on the walky talky talking to Lt. Masterson telling her to "hang tight" and that you are on your way. It does look odd though and I'll try something different.

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Suggestion: Vary up the Rikti and Captive dialog if you have room. Too many Rikti were saying "Objective: Something"... The Longbow base seemed devoid of anything but Rikti. I'd add a few Longbow patrols and/or battles.


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Noted and will make some fine tuning here.

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It seemed a bit odd to me, storywise, that someone created a Rikti like virus and somehow influenced the Rikti to attack at the same time. This was never fully explained.

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The full story and specifics as to why the virus was there is not intended to be fully explained in this arc. This is part of the "prelude".

The Rikti were not responsible for the computer virus. Someone else put it there. Lt. Masterson's report, the second ambush of the third mission and the mission complete clue in mission 5 point to someone else.


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Mission Objectives: "Search the Computer for clues" and "Locate any clues" could be combined together.

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Noted and I will do some fine tuning here.

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Rescue Dialog: The text concerning Crey "robbing banks" seemed odd. I don't remember any arcs with them robbing banks off hand.

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This goes back to the virus. The contact tells you it was used by the Crey years ago for a massive robbery attempt. I am going to change this though as robbing banks is a bit beneath the Crey.

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The wall safe text was incorrect. I'm guessing this used to be a desk at some point in time?

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Yes it was and fixed.

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At this point, the comedy text kicks in high gear, whereas the opening chapter seemed fairly straightforward. I'd go back and make it more consistent if this is intended to be a comedic arc. If not, I'd change the AV text to be more in character.

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Noted and will make adjustments. The arc is not intended as a comedy, but I was trying to "lighten up" the dialogue a bit.

I'll also be changing the dialogue for Nemesis as after talking with a few people who ran it with me, he seems "out of character" in what is transpiring. It is not my intent to make him seem subservient as he does have a much larger role in the forthcoming story. I'll make some revisions to the text given by the contact afterward to try and make this more clear.

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Freak Patrols - I'd either vary up the text with individual patrols or just have 1 patrol with text and the rest silent.

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Noted and will be making adjustments.

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I didn't fully understand why the Malta were helping me...
also, if you're going to have an ambush it needs to come earlier, the mission was over and I had to go find them...

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I apologize if the Malta and their motivations for helping were unclear, but that is the intent of their ambush for now. I think it clear enough through the dialogue and their clue that they arrived to "shut Vanessa up". Was this much understandable? If not, I would love to hear your thoughts on how to make improvements to the scenario and text. Again, the intentions for the Malta encounter is to show that they are involved in the sub-plot with the others, they don't necessarily agree with what is transpiring, but did need to make sure Vanessa didn't talk.

I'll also do some fine tuning to the ambushes arriving earlier. Sometimes it works perfectly while other times it doesn't. This is one of those instances where selecting "Front, Middle, Back" falls down with the MA. I've tried several maps already and the results are the same... the ambushes arrive too far away and then don't come to where you are. If you know of any that will work better, please let me know.

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The "Capture Bonedog" objective was added with no explanation. Perhaps a clue?

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Nosferatu's dialogue before you defeat him lets you know there is someone else there when he says "Get word to our "visitor" that he needs to get out of here and now!!". I will make some adjustments to this to help make it flow better, such as adding a Red Hand patrol to the mission and some hints to their presence in the entry pop-up.

The intent is that Bonedog is at the Council base representing the Red Hand in negotiations with Nosferatu and the Council and Arachnos.

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The debriefing mentions a Torque Starr and the Red Hand with no explanation. This is expanded a bit in the next chapter but is confusing at this point.

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I will work on this to make it clearer. If you have any thoughts on how to expand on it, I would be delighted to hear them.

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If you're going to have a timed mission, there needs to be a reason. Something like time bombs... otherwise I'd not time it.

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I'm going to adjust the text from the contact to reflect this. Bonedog will be telling you that they intend to kill the hostage soon and that you need to save her quickly. I'm thinking of adding in some additional clues to this last mission as well to help explain that Torque Starr (while responsible for the kidnapping) is not the one behind all the groups banding together... the Red Hand is just another villain group joining in with them all.

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The arc seemed to be building up to some great cataclysm of monumental proportions that would cause all the villain groups to band together. Torque just didnt seem to fit the bill IMO. Maybe if you had some clue that Torque was working for some higher power ... especially since this arc seems to be a prelude to something.

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As I mentioned above, it is the intent that Torque is not the one "pulling the strings" behind the villain groups banding together. The kidnapping is not part of that sub-plot either. Torque just kidnapped Jade-Star to get at Turbo due to his hatred of him. I'm going to work on adding some additional clues to the last 2 missions to help make this point more clear. I'm open to suggestion if you have any ideas on how to make that work better.

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The contact needs to be toned down. He appeared to have build up which implies a hard setting. Also, he shouldn't be set to aggressive. It makes the player feel like 2nd fiddle as the contact appears to be leading.

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I will make some adjustments to him. As a side note, you should see his "Mini" in another arc of mine ... now HE is out of control! LOL!

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Suggestion: Colorizing chapter titles and highlighting main objectives in the intro text help break it up and look less like a "wall of text".

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Great suggestion! Will do.


Thank you again for running the arc and for taking to time to provide your excellent feedback! If you would like, PM me with any thoughts you might have toward making some of the less clear parts easier to get across. I'd be delighted to hear them.

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Question:

Does the description say there are AV/EBs, or are you strictly relying on the player to see that "Defeat Boss" is part of the missions?

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I looked at the terminal at it only says "Contains Boss", so I am going to update the description accordingly to include a warning to that extent.

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Question:

Does the description say there are AV/EBs, or are you strictly relying on the player to see that "Defeat Boss" is part of the missions?

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I believe the terminal will say Arch Villain. Not entirely sure though.

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No sense in getting bent outa shape over it.

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I'm not bent out of shape. I just disagree with his overall rating and his reasons for reaching it, which I am entitled to do.

Yes you are correct and I know I started the thread to ask for feedback. I appreciated his comments and for taking the time to run the arc. I tried to point out where I thought his comments valid and where I thought it difficult to understand and where I thought he was unfair.

You are also correct that how I and my teammates like to play differs from others and what we consider challenging varies greatly from other players.

I just don't feel that this arc pushes the limits of difficulty for anyone. My comments regarding "difficulty" stem from the reviewer commenting on "annoying psi AVs", which (to me) is pretty clear indication that they already made up their mind that they didn't like the arc because they could not complete it in 15 seconds. Or they had to (solo by choice) fight something that their selected toon has difficulty against. This is also why I chose to use existing AVs/EBs for this arc. I've seen and fought my share of custom Stone Armor/Psi Blast AV's in MA arcs.

The point I was getting at was that a person can see that there are bosses in each mission, so if they are typically unable to defeat a boss under normal circumstances, they should find a team. I also believe that if I can do this solo with few problems on a variety of ATs, so can anyone else. I'm no better or more skilled a player than the next person. With some ATs (tanks and scrappers) it is much easier to solo than with squishies. Yet I am able to complete it (albeit with a lot more finesse in terms of pulling and aggro avoidance) with a blaster and even my EMP defender. Others should be able to as well. As you well know, some ATs are better suited for soloing than others.

Lastly, none of my tanks have purple sets in them. Most are all common IOs and don't have any enhancements (or bonuses) from IO recipe sets. My main scrapper is the only toon I have fully decked out with purples and other IO sets so far.

I think overall the reviewer missed the underlying story going on in this one and did not know how to critique it properly. Some of his comments were very good and helpful toward making improvements. As I said, the other feedback I have received in-game and via PM here, people have had no problems understanding what was going on, especially since I had requested they pay special attention to the clues and dialogue, and that this contains things which are a prelude to a larger story.

Ok, amending the list ;

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UPDATED:

Obsidious
Emerald Fusion
Az'Rial
Catharctic
UltraBatz


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He's also a bit naive though when it comes the shades of gray- to him, good guys are good, bad guys are bad, and fighting for a just cause should be enough to get you to triumph over evil.

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You've no idea how well that works

There will be plenty of "shades of gray" for them all to discuss

Were the toons listed veterans of the first Rikti War by chance?

So far we have;

Obsidious
Emerald Fusion
Az'Rial
Catharctic

We may want to have a couple of others who not only fit the character concept but have SERIOUSLY UBER debuffing capability. Trust me on that one.

Thank you for taking the time to run through the arc. I appreciate the feedback.

I wanted to sift through your convoluted commentary to glean what (I think) are the major points you are trying to get across. While I can see some of what you are saying is valid, overall I feel the criticisms you make on several other aspects as well as the overall rating far too harsh.

I'll respond to each so forgive this as it will be a lengthy post and my apologies for the spoilers here for those who have not run this yet.

First;

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Ice/axe tanker. High 30s. Diff 2 for ~goodfights~.

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I'm curious how you were able to complete a level 45-50 content arc on a "High 30s Ice/axe tanker"?

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Us, huh? Okay, buddy, let's see if you actually show on the ground.

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Yes, it is up to the both of you. The contact clearly states that heroes are spread out all over the city and otherwise occupied. That should be abundantly clear to anyone who can read.


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Y'know, if every second counts shouldn't there be a timer?

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Possibly, but what would be the point of it? How would that improve the mission? The Rikti are invading, not just stopping by to shoot a few Longbow and then head back to their ship.

Just to add to this; timers (at least IMO) add an unneccessary means for failing a mission and breaking the immersion of a story. As a "reviewer", you should be knowledgeable of how the MA works and the limitations it has in the potential immersion problems with mission failures.

Should a timer expire before completion and the mission fails, you are shown the "Mission Fail Text". And yet when you receive the next mission from the contact, it would seem like you haven't failed and saved the day afterall.

When the MA allows for alternate story threads based on completion succesess or failure, then I might agree. This is something I personally take into consideration when running other player arcs. I do not hold the limitations of the MA against anyone.

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Wow. That's a crowded objective bar. How much of that is actually mandatory?

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Why yes it is and all of it is mandatory. Again, the Rikti are invading the place. Would you not expect to see some wounded that needed tending to? Bombs that needed to be destroyed?

Second, you are the first to comment on this being "too much" to do. Other feedback I have received on this arc have all said they enjoyed these types of missions. The overwhelming majority of standard content is either defeat boss, defeat all, click objects etc. Most all people I know who either run player created arcs or create their own stories like the "flavor" the MA provides in this area. You can create/run content that is something different for a change.

I guess it is just a preference thing here. I don't feel that the amount of objectives is overdone in this mission.


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Okay. I would like you to think about this:

Focused Senses boosts perception.

Quickness boosts run speed.

Rikti monkey gas makes allies flip out and run the hell away.

Put them all together and it's the amazing Two Rooms Away Man!


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First, I will clarify the ally is not a character of my own creation. He is the main character of a friend of mine on Triumph server. His powersets are exactly the same as my friends character.

Second, I understand fully how powers work and their effect in the MA when faced with things such as caltrops, mudpots, Rikti gas etc. I also see here that you do not understand how allies in the MA work. Focused Senses and Quickness have nothing to do with characters running off due to Rikti gas. Any ally of any powerset combination would do the same. Again, this is a limitation within the MA system itself. Personally, I find it immersive in other player created arcs I have tried to have allies that "run off" and do their own thing. It makes them more "real".

Third, I've run this arc on my tankers, scrappers, defender and blaster and had no real issues with him running "two rooms away". Sure, he may run out of range of the monkey gas (if any at all), but there is not much I can do about that... any custom character will do that. Again, as a "reviewer" of MA created content, you should be knowledgeable enough to understand it is a limitation of the MA system in general and outside the creator control.

Lastly, if as a tanker you are unable to control aggro sufficiently to keep all enemies focused on you (and thereby keeping allies within range), I don't know what to tell you. I invite you to either roll a toon or transfer one to Triumph server where I would be happy to run this again with you on one of my tankers. Perhaps you can learn how to properly and effectively manage aggro on a tanker.


[ QUOTE ]
Also, the Longbow in charge of the base is an ordinary minigunner. Was that intended?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not intended, but point taken and I can agree. I will update the character to a more fitting Longbow NPC. I had originally wanted to create her as a custom character, but ran out of file space unfortunately.


[ QUOTE ]
Wow, looks like they were all required. I'm not really sure what you can do to collapse everything - maybe lump all the rescues together?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm curious as to why it would need to "collapse everything"? To be very honest, there is not all that much for you to do in this mission. Were you expecting to run into a 1 room map with 3 enemies to defeat? Again, the story for this mission is the Rikti are invading the Longbow Base. The contact clearly spells out to you in the introduction and accept dialogue that other heroes are spread throughout the city. Some heroes have already responded, but further calls for reinforcements are coming in. After reading this, you should be expecting a busy mission.


[ QUOTE ]
Make up your mind whether the contact spells out his contractions or not. "I have" -> "she has not" -> "I've" -> me going "whuh?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Point taken. I will go through the text again and update to make it more uniform.

[ QUOTE ]
Guy, it's okay. Heroes can help heroes for no reason at all. I am not your damn relationship counselor, nor does this seem like an appropriate time.

This is going to end up being somebody else who thinks an appropriate memorial for a lost loved one is destroying everything else they ever loved, isn't it? I only ask because I've seen it twice and something's rubbing me the wrong way now.

[/ QUOTE ]

First, this whole part makes no sense to me. The title of the arc itself should give anyone a pretty clear indication there is something of a romantic aspect in the story. I question your ability to be an "objective" reviewer of any story content where you are already forming opinions on a given story based on others you have run before. It sounds to me here like you had already made your mind up at this point and did not pay any real attention to the remainder of the story. I'll come back to this again as you mentioned it later on in your review.

Second, the storyline required an introduction that these two characters have a history together. As the writer, I know these two characters, their story and history (and so do my friends on Triumph) but others don't. If I did not introduce this, the player who does not know these characters has no way of finding this out. He also does not ask for any kind of "relationship counseling", so I've no idea where that tangent thought comes from. The contact provides you with some backstory and history for these characters. This is not an uncommon thing in CoX (ie. Maticore and Sister Psyche) or in comics in general. I can cite you numerous examples from the various comic universes if you like.

Lastly, I wanted to have a reason why the contact seems to overlook some key things within the story. My intent was to have him somewhat blinded by his feelings as to not pay attention to certain things fully. I did not want him to come across as some idiot and leave the deciphering of clues and such to the player. Just my opinion here, but I do have a brain and do not find it necessary to have contacts for every mission spoon feed me everything.

[ QUOTE ]
...wow, if this was actually a Crey plan, there are just so many ways for it to fail. In the middle of a Rikti invasion, deliberately take out one base's defenses and hope that out of all the chaos one particular hero shows up?

Nothing really interesting on the top floor, wonder what's through the secret elevator...

Oh, peachy. He Who Must Be Blamed?

So Countess Crey and Nemesis walk into a covert Arachnos base. Countess Crey says "Is that a USB drive in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

[/ QUOTE ]

99% of this is convoluted thought tangents, but from this I get two major things; the use of an Arachnos warehouse map and the USB drive you find on Nemesis. I would agree the clue you get from Nemesis probably does not fit his character, so I will change where/how this clue is received. It is probably more suitable to something you find in the desk along with the other clues in this mission.

As far as the map, at first glance it may seem odd and not appropriate, but as this is only the second mission and Arachnos do appear later in the 4th mission, I do not agree with the criticism of the map. I would understand it if Arachnos never appeared in the story at all, but since they do and Nemeis/Countess Crey are mentioning "alliances", I don't believe the map needs changing. At most, I may update the mission entry pop-up for this one to make mention of that "you find it curious that there is Arachnos tech here".

It should be fairly obvious to anyone who can read why the Crey may be in an Arachnos warehouse. Were you to paying attention to the dialogue of Nemesis and Countess Crey in this mission, you would have an idea why.

[ QUOTE ]
Nemesis isn't some Republic serial villain. He'll only tell you what his plan is if he's pulled it off sometime in the past three dozen minutes or so. So why do I have a feeling that the anachronistic clue Big Brass dropped is going to turn into a lead?

[/ QUOTE ]

Point taken and I agree. While Nemesis himself tells you nothing, the clue you received from him works better if found in the desk. I will update the story accordingly.

[ QUOTE ]
Yyyyyep. Look, man, three rules of heroing: Shoot Straight. Conserve Your Inspirations. Never, Never Take A Lead From Lord Nemesis.

[/ QUOTE ]

Again, Nemesis himself reveals nothing. It was a clue you found on him, and as I have said I will change this to something more suitable.


[ QUOTE ]
Carnies now. I guess we haven't gotten all the irritating psychic AVs out of the way.

[/ QUOTE ]

AVs are meant to be tough. It is just a preference, but I prefer a challenge as do most others I team with on a regular basis. Just as a suggestion, but when you read the mission details at the MA terminal and saw that each mission contains a Boss, perhaps you might consider teaming? I can solo this arc with no real difficulties on my tank. If the EBs/AVs are too much for you alone, find a team.

[ QUOTE ]
...okay, Lady Borgia would never say "yucky". More like "uncouth", and I don't believe there's a Freak who's ever couthed in his eventful little life.

Okay, look. Vanessa may be a party girl living in a party world, but that party world is Renaissance-era Italy. Even if she has her mind back at this point, and I have no idea if that's true or not, Giovanna Scaldi has been talking through her mouth for years now and that's not something you just give up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Again, more convoluted thought tangents that ignore the (very important) dialogue of the AV.

This is the part I am hoping you can provide some further clarification if you would not mind as it is one of the most important aspects of the arc;

[ QUOTE ]
Agh Malta! Agh Sappers! Agh... they're not firing at me. Um...

Okay, random run-in from the defense force of... the same supergroup Fanboy in the first mission was from. That's not disturbing at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am glad that you found this surprising and disturbing as that is the intent of the encounter. When running this with a team, it has been fun to hear the "Malta? Oh crap!" cries from teammates when they show up.

I am curious if you were able to understand that "something" was going on here and that it is clear enough through dialogue that it was important for Vanessa to be "shut up"? Also, did it not strike you as odd that the Omega Force Bots show up as well and they are of the same group from the "hero reinforcement" of the first mission?


[ QUOTE ]
Suuuuure there are worse things than all the villains out there, Mr. Malta guy. Brainwashingparamilitaryorganizationthattriedtodes troyParagonCitywithagiantrobotsaysWHAT?

Malta are on the scale of "dudes you should trust" somewhere just very slightly above Nemesis. Their modus operandi is brainwashing and information warfare.

But we're going to trust them as well, aren't we? Yes, yes we are.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, you are. While the Malta are noted for secrets within secrets, brainwashing and all that other stuff, they did come to your aid. What their motiviation is for that remains to be seen as I explained in my initial post that this entire arc is a "prelude" to something larger. I will come back to this point at the end of my post.

[ QUOTE ]
Look, my contact, you can't just throw half the Malta statement out as bull and take the other half of the statement at face value!

[/ QUOTE ]

Why not? At this point, it is the only lead you have. Also, this kind of thing happens numerous times throughout the game when you have dealt with traitors and turncoats. I personally have also seen this in many player created story arcs. It should not be alien to you.

[ QUOTE ]
Arachnos... and the Council... in a 5th column base. This is turning into like MA Mad Libs at a distressing rate.

[/ QUOTE ]

The only piece here that I can agree with is it being a 5th column base. I suppose I do not need remind you of CoX lore in that the 5th Column was overthrown by the Council, so it is within the realm of possibility to anyone with knowledge of the game history that they have access to old 5th Column bases. I will not change the map, but I will update the text from the contact to make note that it is an old 5th facility the Council is still using.

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, it's THAT 5th column base. You should be advised, one of the boss locations is up a dozen flights of stairs on the catwalk overlooking the little "parade ground".

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I do understand how the map works. Again, while the spawn locations are unfortunate, this is something outside player control. I opted for a better story map than a standard warehouse or cave for this one. Not every Council map will work in terms of location spawns for what I wanted to happen in the story.

I will also add I've seen this base used by everything from Hellions to Rikti in other MA arcs.

[ QUOTE ]
GUESS WHERE NOSFY SPAWNS.

[/ QUOTE ]

When we as story arc creators are granted the ability to control where things spawn (other than Front, Middle or Back), I will agree with this. It should also be noted this is a random thing as 9 times out of 10 that I have run this arc with others, he spawns in other locations.

[ QUOTE ]
...Bonedog. BONEDOG. That's a level 0 Skull functionary name. ...his description is his name. That's, uh, that's real helpful there.

[/ QUOTE ]

As with Turbo Starr, this is not a character I came up with. He is one of my friends villains. Also, he does have a bio which explains where he comes from. Did you not see it? If not, then he may be bugged. I will take a look at it this evening.

[ QUOTE ]
He's Thugs/Rad. I have no clue why.

[/ QUOTE ]

First, these are the sets my friend chose when making his villain. Second, why not?

[ QUOTE ]
Why hello there, Gang War. Or should I call you ENERGY ABSORB MAX.

Almost makes up for the rad debuff.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds to me that you had some trouble dealing with a difficult AV solo. This should not surprise you in the least as they are meant to be team content.

[ QUOTE ]
So, alright. The guys coordinating every freakin' high-stakes villain group in possibly the world and planning something unknown, but probably evil, are named TORQUE and BONEDOG.

Those are names that you might expect to have some trouble breaking into a modestly well reinforced pawn shop.

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree with you entirely on the naming. I also see that you completely missed Nosferatu's dialogue just before you defeated him. You pretty clearly get the indiciation that Torque Starr and the Red Hand are not the ones "pulling the strings"... they are joining up with the other villain factions just like everyone else.


[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, uh, mind cluing me in on your relationship to this guy, my contact? This guy who shares your last name? Is he like your evil duplicate from another dimension or a clone that got all uppity or perhaps your former auto mechanic grandfather?

[/ QUOTE ]

Point taken and I will add some further history into the dialogue here.

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No timer on the mission. It's probably already too late.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now in this instance I can see where making this timed would be acceptable.

[ QUOTE ]
...it's an Arachnos base, intro text, but given that people can't make SG bases in MA I guess I can forgive it.

[/ QUOTE ]

And yet earlier you criticize map usage? I agree with you 100% that it is sometimes difficult to find suitable maps that work and add some variety other than "every mission is a plain cave/office/warehouse". However, this is where I think your ability as a reviewer falls down. As I mention earlier, you complain about maps used because they "don't fit", but in this instance it is ok. You contradict your own review.

[ QUOTE ]
But... how is this a heroic rescue? It's some guy's girlfriend from another guy who hates him. This is like, 80's teen movie rescue at best.

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree, but you are entitled to your opinion.

[ QUOTE ]
Okay, descriptive text, I can guess they're loyal minions of the faction they're described as being from. Anything else you want to tell me? No? Okay then.

[/ QUOTE ]

Point taken and I agree. They could use more detail and I will update accordingly.

[ QUOTE ]
So. Rescue over... an emp/rad AV? Ooookay. Looks like an ordinary EB out there, and given that she's boosting her boyfriend I decide to just walk away for a drink of water, and the fight's over when I get back.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can tell by this you did not do anything and allowed the ally to clear the room. Every time I have run this mission solo or on a team, whomever clears the last minion surrounding her receives her buffs.

[ QUOTE ]
I check the guy's info before he fades away, and yep, Praetorian Contact.

[/ QUOTE ]

As with Turbo Starr and Bonedog, Torque is another character of my friend whom I used for the arc.

[ QUOTE ]
Oh good, I'm doubting someone as a result of all this. It's... the guy from Freedom Corps. Because apparently it was completely impossible for Crey to change their mimic-Rikti virus to bypass existing protections.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT.

With all the dubious links in the chain of events leading up to the final mission, I doubt THE FIRST ONE? That's like marking Charlie Chaplin down in a Charlie Chaplin lookalike contest where the other entries are a broom, a block of gelatin, and a small silver bowl full of pudding!

[/ QUOTE ]

Well at least I know you read the final clue. So far you are (sadly) the only person who has not been able to put all the pieces together though. Just about everyone else who has run it (based on feedback received) was able to understand this part quite clearly. In fact, most have enjoyed guessing up to the very end who is involved with what.

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and my contact's getting married. THIS won't end horribly.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry to say it, but this comment is entirely useless as a commentary to the story.

[ QUOTE ]
Storyline - *. So... every villain group and perhaps some hero groups are teaming up to... to... Gaw, I don't know, put on the veryest specialest episode of "This is Your Life" for Statesman? I follow quite possibly the least probable chain of clues ever to get to the end of this all... and why was I even here again? My MA/SR ally could probably just solo all of this stuff himself if it wasn't for the persistent ally range issues.

[/ QUOTE ]


As I mention in my initial post, this arc is a prelude to a larger story. You are the only person to have run this that has not seen the whole "rescue" storyline as the backdrop to a whole other sub-plot within the story beginning. You are also the only person who does not grasp the concept of what a "prelude" or "prologue" is. Knowing this is intended as a prelude, you should automatically understand that there are some things in the story that are not intended to be answered within it.

[ QUOTE ]
Design - *. The secret Arachnos warehouse and the 5th Column's Last Stand maps don't really fit the groups you put on them much, if at all. Vanessa for some reason shows up not very far into the abandoned warehouse map, leaving about half of it completely pointless.

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree as I mentioned above.

[ QUOTE ]
Gameplay - ***. Even when the Rikti monkey gas wasn't making him cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, my ally still loved to run ahead and slaughter everything. And the "final battle" was over in a handful of seconds without me even having to do anything. Not the fifteen minutes of sweaty-palmed button-mashing action I was expecting.

[/ QUOTE ]

I find the highlighted part very hard to believe. I also don't see how not having a "15 minute button mashing-fest" is a requirement for every single mission.

[ QUOTE ]
Detail - **. I have real trouble believing Torque and Bonedog as global-level threats, if that wasn't already clear. The rather anemic descriptions on the enemy group minions and lieutenants seem rather out of place, compared to the lavish bios that my contact and his Praetorian self manage.

[/ QUOTE ]

Point taken on the character bios and I will add to them to provide more detail.

[ QUOTE ]
Overall - *. As a setup for a larger arc this actually seems completely unnecessary. I mean, I come out the other end knowing pretty much nothing more than when I went in. You've heard of "in medias res", right? Starting a story in the middle?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is where I believe you failed to put all the necessary pieces together. The story does not start in the middle. It starts at the beginning.

What you missed was;

1. Who was in the Longbow base during the invasion? - The report from the Longbow Lt. provides you this clue. Since one of the heroes who responded has disappeared, that leaves only one other person.

2. The dialogue of every villain in the arc - they are all speaking of banding together, someone granting them "amnesty" etc.

3. Who besides the Malta show up to help you when Vanessa starts to talk? - it should also be fairly clear that the Malta while involved, do not necessarily agree with the other villain factions.

4. The Longbow Scientists report and your assessment of it - if the Longbow defense grid was designed against viruses of this kind, then how did it get taken down? WHO was there to do it?

5. As a prelude to a larger story, the sub-plot will pose questions/introduce things not intended to be answered here.

[ QUOTE ]
Or, y'know, whatever you had planned for the future of all of this. I've got no idea what the shape is of things to come. And if this is a prequel of sorts, shouldn't I?

[/ QUOTE ]

As I have said previously, it has been fairly evident to everyone else who has run this so far that the story is essentially the villain factions banding together with "someone" for an unknown reason and that the perhaps the Omega Force group of heroes are not what they appear to be. The rescue/romance part is just a backdrop for this one in particular although it will lead to more in the future arcs that continue the underlying story.


Overall, I feel you were a bit too harsh with your review and nitpicks of areas that are in most cases outside a creators control. The overall rating of 1 star is not appropriate either, especially since you contradict yourself in your own criticisms and seemed to get the basics of what was going on. I beleive you went into this thinking it would be one kind of story, but penalized it for not being what you expected it to be.

I do want to add that I feel you very much need to work on your critiquing skills. With some effort I was able to sift through the meaningless text to gather what I believe you were trying to say. In the future, you may want to try and be more concise with your commentary. In order to provide clear and intelligible feedback to someone, it is important they understand exactly what you are trying to say. Convoluted thought tangents and rambling inner monologue makes no sense as a review of something.

A much more effective technique is to provide feedback like;

"This did not work and here is why".
"I did not understand the purpose of this clue. Could you clarify the intent?"
"This worked well, but might I suggest..."

Some ideas to think about.


Thanks again and I do thank you kindly for taking the time to run the arc.

[ QUOTE ]
The Devastation proc is a 15% chance for a mag 2 hold, hardly a game breaker since you'd have to stack it to hold anything more than a minion

[/ QUOTE ]

Strange... my tanks and brutes have this in Hurl and I've held bosses and EBs with it on occasion.

[ QUOTE ]
What are you cooking up Shard 0.o

[/ QUOTE ]

I forgot to add that you already know some things... my new arc that we ran the other night is the prelude to it all.

For those that haven't run it yet, check out Arc ID: 232417 - "The Hero Who Loved Me"

Pay close attention to who is where in the first mission, the dialogue of the major villains, clues you find, who comes to your aid in the 3rd mission, and most importantly the mission complete clue in mission 5.

P.S. Yes, that was a shameless plug.

I was literally in tears laughing when I took The Incredible Mini to ICON on the test server.

I changed one of her costumes to an overweight, out of shape slob, then used the "serum" costume change emote and giggled as she changed into a mini

For those who haven't seen it

[ QUOTE ]
Azrhiaz
Catharctic
Dawun
Emerald Fusion
Fanci
Firi
Forgoten Gaurdian
Kay Parfait
Obsidius
Rhynwa
Shard Warrior
Soto
SunSplitter
Tiny H
UltraBatz
Vego

Off the top of my head. These are the people that I notice that are always involved in getting events/raids/tf's organized on our server.

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess I should clarify this a bit...

There are tons of players behind the keyboard and mouse who do a lot for friends/sg mates/Triumph server when it comes to events and stuff.

If we separate our "real" selves from our characters and look at our favorite toons as if they were real people is more of what I was asking.

As an example;

IRL I like to help organize events and help out people etc. in-game, but if I were to look at Shard as a real person, I can say with certainty she would not be in any kind of "illuminati" type group of heroes.

Shard is in many ways very much a loner. Most of the reasons why is she has trust issues. She has been horribly betrayed in her past by people she respected, admired and loved, and this is something that has remained with her.

It is not that she does not trust other heroes per say, since she knows they are different people from those who harmed her in the past; there is just a part of her that will always want to keep other people at arms length.

Her issues also stem from having close friends killed during the Rikti War on her homeworld - something she blames herself for. This has also caused her to not get too close with anyone here, including Jade-Star who Shard considers "a sister in all but blood and best friend".

I picture Shard more like Batman is with the Justice League. He is part of the team and is a good friend to them all, but he also keeps that kryptonite in his utility belt at all times, just in case.

So from a pure character standpoint - taking your real self out of the equation - which of our characters would be an illuminati here?

[ QUOTE ]
If you try my story achs listed in my signature, I am the contact for all thoughs missions. The idea was to break the 4th wall and just make a character who looks like me in real life or as close as I could get with the game. Having allready mentioned that I'm theater, yes this is why my game counterpart of myself is wearing all black.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd be delighted to run through your arcs this evening.