SupaFreak
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Posts
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Joined
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Reserved for Villain Finale Arc
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Reserved for Hero Finale Arc
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Reserved for Rogue Arc
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Reserved for Villain 2 Arc
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Reserved for Vigilante Arc
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Reserved for Hero 2 Arc
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Contact
(you can trust a man in a suit, right?)
Allies
Enemy Unit
Enemy Mages
Main Enemy Group
Key Named Enemies
(Can any survive your wrath?)
Updates- 12/10/11: Revamped as 1 mission arc targetted for Incarnates, though suitable at standard setting for lower levels for strong builds.
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Contact
(you can trust a man in black, right?)
Allies
(each Ally shown will be a contact in upcoming sequels)
Appearances
(need to be voluntarily triggered to be discovered)
Enemy Zombies
Enemy Spectres
Enemy Summons
Death's Head Order
Key Enemy
(and 10 other enemies not shown)
Patch Notes- 10/19/11: Revamped as a 1 mission arc targetted for Incarnates, though suitable at standard settings for lower levels.
- 10/26/11: Added more details in Clues, Final Dialog and Souvenir.
- 11/14/11: Added more details in Clues, added new lieutentant rank to Deaths Head Order.
- 12/09/11: Revamp of Deaths Head Order costumes and bios. Minor text changes to Souvenir.
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What I'm about: Positivity. Please keep overly negative comments away.
A/E Attitude: I play others arcs quite a lot. If someone plays mine and replies and rates nicely, they will get the same in return - guaranteed. My belief is 3 or 4 stars is discouraging during the "shaping your arc" phase. You make a valid story attempt and I'll give you 5 stars and my feedback. My challenge to you is not to "earn" that 5 stars, but for you to "live up to it". I don't find joy in discouraging others.
Other than that, I have no desire or ambition to reach HoF or DC status personally because I want the ability to update my creations at any given time if new features are added.
My other A/E Threads:
Mission: Æxcellence: Sessions with the authors and their creations, including yours if you participate!
Operation: Integration (Tip & Tributes): Listing of arc suggestions within arcs.
Additional Text Colors Screenshots of all the available text colors against the A/E background.
Okay, enough...
The main reason I started this thread was to display what you are in for if you do ever try my series of arcs.
Contact Interaction
Title and Subtitle reflects Mission's Morality.
The rest is explained in the picture.
Navigation
Again, Navigation's main text reflects Mission's Morality.
Tasks are color-coded to mimic the way enemies "con"sider.
Mission Pop-Ups
Attempts to resemble what Tip Pop-Ups look like on Exit.
Clues
Picture text sums it up.
Ally Bios
Designed to be like a profile of sorts, hints or clues may be buried within.
Tips & Tribute Clues
Some Clues will have the gold text "See Souvenir for Details" which, as the picture explains, will pay tribute to other authors and elements within an arc of theirs I have played. For more info regarding "Tips & Tributes", please visit this link. -
Added and thanx for the first Protector submission!
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As a returning A/E author and supporter of this element of the game (breaks up the monotony)... I would like to state what did push me away for a long time...
1) Band-aid fixes to offset farms, which hindered story-telling tools
2) Authors rarely return the favor of trying their arcs.
3) Authors far too critical and failing to see the effort you've put forth at the point your arc is currently at.
4) The ratings system is far too shallow and only reflects the opinions of those that bother to rate.
But, I'm back in the mix and I'm not letting the negatives getting the best of me.
And I'm accepting arc attempts for what they are with 5 stars until the dev team ever gives us a better ratings system (so many great ideas been put forth on that)... and if anyone plays mine, they're guaranteed a play on theirs and sometimes more. I'll comment on what I would consider changing, but ultimately the choice is up to the author. And I don't expect or want Shakespeare from everyone either. I just want to have a fun, memorable experience outside of the overplayed dev content.
PEACE!
Adding: Rewards are nice and all, but the experience within is what draws me more. I'd play the RWZ missions for half the rewards of (example) Indigo's arc. -
Chiming in as a reminder my search is still on and my interest is not dwindling.
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Thread now irrelevent, started up seperate thread for updates and whatnot.
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Thread now irrelevent, started up seperate thread for updates and whatnot.
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That is AWESOME, PW! Great work, Projectionist!
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Quote:One way is to add a note in our Souvenirs to "Hey, if you liked my arc... try this author's arc which is very similar in style!" since probably a substantial amount that stumble upon an arc rarely frequent the boards.
I'm very passionate about AE and I've adopted a similar rating/reviewing method over time. I still feel downrates have their place, tho, as there needs to be a way to distinguish the better arcs from the pack.
I may not be a big fan of some people's writing style (heck, I'm not a big fan of some Dev's writing style)... and the same is going to hold true for mine. But to me anymore what matters is it's a valid attempt and I can only hope they'll take any feedback and try to improve on it and update me if it gets updated. (I do)
Plus with now over 500,000 Arcs to choose from (wonder how many of them are actually legit story attempts)... it's getting harder and harder to find the gems. -
Thanx Psymate and wife... you've been added to the chaos.
Looking forward to meeting you.
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I have no idea. Maybe it's because of Admin: (null'd)
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Thanx Backfire for the comments. Your input seriously had a lot to do with the changes... and I feel for the better.
Unfortunately, there is contact seperation... and some will find that offsetting... but I will not be changing that. Something happens beyond the scope a level 22-27 Hero's abilities... from an friendly source. Added narrative between transitions I hope helps.
Though this arc is designed for "solo", I am keeping the 2 archetypes of Brute & Dominator in mind as well as teams if they happen.
I've stumbled on "critter balance" and "contact & narrative dialogue" along the way, no doubt. But it's getting closer to being where I want it to be... that's for sure.
Positivity, baby... positivity. And not settling for "this is okay"... -
Quote:I have 2 takes on this (strictly my opinion and not fact):
* I kinda lost my way in the story starting around mission 3, where it seemed like trippy things started happening but without much explanation, and this feeling persisted until the end of the arc. Visually, a lot of interesting things occurred, but I didn't understand what was going on.
1) Story players: Should notice there's some foreshadowing during the first two missions combined with "strange poltergeist readings" in the narrative. I do not want to answer everything for the player, and let the player's imagination create what they believe is transpiring. I want some elements "grey" and not spelled out.
2) Action players: Will miss a lot, including clues buried in bios, NPC dialogue and System Text. This was done to reward those who analyze the sum of the whole or pay attention to minor details.
Keep in mind: I totally do not expect anyone to spend as much time analyzing aspects of the story as I've tried to pour into it. But as the story further unfolds later, some elements should become much more clear while some will remain at the player's imagination.
I'm still trying to figure out when a few comment on that, at which points exactly is confusing to the player?Quote:* This is partially due to the unusual structure for clues, with a big info dump at the start and end of each mission, and no clues along the way. This is an interesting mechanism, but if you want to go with this, I think you need the objectives and the character dialog to more clearly tell the story. I agree with Glazius's comment that it felt like I was following the objectives that popped up in the nav bar, but did not have a clear understanding of what they meant.
Mission 1:
Ravenessence rescued: "Come. I know where Deadfall is. She's in trouble."
Clue needed on top of that?
Deadfall rescued from zombies: "I must retrieve the files" & Nav updates to "local files".
I guess a Clue could go there, but it's really irrelevent to the mission at hand which is getting them out of harm's way. System text says more zombies are moving in and a Patrol spawns nearby.
Ravenessence (non decoy) reveals herself:
Used to have a clue here that she used a decoy to keep Tsoo away, but that seems really odd to have to open clues to figure that out when Nav says (non decoy).
Then "Defeat Phantom Strike to Escape":
Multi-feedback when I just had it on Nav as "ambush leader" in place of his name as being too "general" prompted the change. Providing a Clue here when in 50 feet another pops up seems overdone to me.
Mission 2:
"Tormas": That's it... no other objective but to get answers from him why Phantom Strike was sent to kill Deadfall.
Providing a Clue on his defeat sometimes resulted in it not showing if Brother Dayless or the Rogue Ambush killed him and there was a hole in story. He says "I'll talk! Don't let them get their Tome of Alteration!"
So, Nav updates to recover the Tome and mission over. Clue for Tormas & Tome which both happened at end of mission summed up almost immediately.
Each other mission after is a total of 1 objective to end the weird situation you find yourself in. It's an attempt (and some could say a poor attempt) of saying "these 3 missions are actually 1 big mission with different maps".
You said you played a Brute, was the lack of stop-time offsetting to your archetype's inherent Fury?
And I really don't see the attempt at "constant mission action" much different from TFs where you can keep the flow and let the Nav summarized what's going on until the action stops.
Very open to suggestions within the limits of A/E body text space and avoiding "wall of text" or huge paragraphs. Yes, there is a lot going on and this is an "experiment" in Clues to see if it's a "Fail" or "Win". 50/50 right now on feedback. Had some say "OMG, it's so much easier to follow on a team" from one to "Makes it easier to track important details" to those on the opposite such as you and GlaziusF.Quote:* Regarding the lengthy begin/end clues, they seem organized in bullet point format, which feels rather sterile and sharply at odds with the dream quest mood that I believe your story is trying to set. Is it possible you can provide this exposition in a more organic manner?
It is becoming more and more apparent I will never please everyone with this "experiment" and the "organic" comment you made leads me to think there may be a happier medium that I'm not seeing yet to accomplish what I'm striving for... which is keeping Teams, Brutes and Dominators in mind and attempting to let the action and characters drive the story within, yet when downtime comes... break it down in Clue as best as possible.
Anyhoo... thanx PW for giving it a try.
This series of weirdness and detatchment is a one-time thing. The upcoming arcs do follow the "1 contact standard" a lot more than this who is present throughout. Each main character presented here is to be a contact based on your decision at the end.
I kinda liken this to some of my favorite arcs in the game from "linked contacts" in Faultline and Rikti War Zone (add the Doppleganger arcs) and how you get introduced to them early and get to know them better later. These are my personal favorite and most memorable "dev content" experiences in my 81+ months and my "nod" to some of my favorite "dev content". -
Had a long response that got lost during "Preview" and not up to writing it all again.
Too much to comment about that can be summed up as such:
"Thank you for a re-review of my arc and I promise I will not be asking for another for this. It's clear to me now that my writing style will not be to your liking, and I must accept that and continue on with the best of what I feel you commented about.
I want to apologize for the Nether Demon and not getting the change in before you played. That was not an intended "hazing".
Main notes otherwise include "I feel you missed all the foreshadowing", "This is not a be-all end-all arc, it is an Intro Arc", "Objectives are indeed intended to be quick after first mission, as I don't want you to be stuck in my arc beyond the scope of what you want" and "What a few colored texts does to you, Walls of White do to me."
Keep up the great work, GlaziusF. Sorry mine is a "Fail" to you. -
Thread now irrelevent, started up seperate thread for updates and whatnot.
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Ask yourself: Are you truly passionate about Architect Entertainment or just your creations?
Neither answer is wrong and I am not directing this at any one person in particular, since I was guilty of this before I reanalyzed how this was affecting everyone in the grand scheme of things.
For a while, I was only 5-starring story arcs that I felt could compete with Dev Content.
I gave 4 to those I felt still needing improving on certain elements and 3 in need of moderate re-work and didn't rate anything below.
If I came across a farm, I just did not vote.
No, I'm not 1 starring you!
You guys have just as much right to A/E as anyone.
I'm willing to bet 100 iThreads that no one who farms and plays a sub-par farm will give it anything but 5 stars.
I feel this is why farms move ahead of stories... because there is no standard other than "it's a farm".
Doesn't matter if it's incomplete or needs re-balanced or whatever.
Now, if everyone was taking my approach... and I'm sure some do. Guess what happens?
Farms move to---> Front Page! Hall of Fame!
Potentially great stories---> Keep at it! You may not get replayed by someone who 3 or 4 starred ya... so you've got lots of ground to make up!
Authors who get repeatedly 3 or 4 starred with no feedback---> Stop trying, stop playing, stop rating (yes, your arcs too authors).
This is what I do now:- I also always leave a general comment in feedback to arcs I play.
- If I don't rate, I'll simply say "I'm sorry, but your arc needs a lot more work. Please update me if you do improve it later so I can give it another try."
- If I do rate (5!), I don't say anything negative unless I can say something positive to off-set the negative.
- I don't give a major break-down of what I'd change, but if I find an element of the format, story or mechanics that feels like a zit in the middle of the back I will state that it's something that I feel needs reconsidered by them.
But, guess what?
Not gonna happen.
Nowadays... I am always 5 starring mediocre or better story attempts... even those I perceive to be flawed but have potential...
Why?
Because I want yours higher on the list than farms. Simple as that.
I DO NOT see other authors as competition and think "oh no, if I 5 star them... mine will fall a page".
I don't know if that's what other authors are thinking or not or if they just don't see it the way I do now.
There is a major limit to the A/E system in it's current state to keep valid attempts at stories in the front.
Unfortunately, making authors "work" for that 5 star rating from you will probably only result in more farms.
In my opinion, we (not just me or you, but all of us as a combined authoring force) as a majoirty are failing as an author community at helping each other shine.
So, yea... I have received 4-stars in the last week 4 times on "Black as Midnight" as a motivating factor to speaking up now... an arc which I have put at least 80 hours into. And guess what? I agree it's still not "Final" and still needs some minor improvements in various areas.
Now, how long some of those 5-star farms take to create?
Like I said, I'm not a great story-teller... but... I am determined to get that arc to be the best it can be within my and A/E's abilities, even if takes another 20 hours.
Why?
Because I'm passionate about this element of the game. Isn't it obvious?
This is why I finally jumped on board with the A/E Superteam on Triumph.
This is why I'm hosting a Global Character Contest where actual player's characters will make guest appearances in future arcs.
This is why that even in the neglected state of Architect Entertainment, I will be forking out $20 for 5 more slots.
This is why I am pulling elements from arcs I've played and liked and finding a way to mention or sneak them into my story and mention the authors and arc names and IDs in Souvenirs in the future.
And this is why I'll soon be doing some YouTube video demonstrations to give designers ideas in their creations.
To me, it's no longer just about me and my arc(s). It's about us as a community of authors and players.
You took time out to experience my creation, you bet I'm taking the time to try yours out too.
You think mine needs more work? Tell me! I'm not that proud to admit I'm flawed. Just hope you receive kind criticism as well, if there's any to be had. (pssst, chances are on a d20 that you're probably better at this than I)
Anyhoo... I want to get better at designing and authoring story/adventure arcs. I want to experience others great story/adventure arcs too.
And I'll be doing my part in seeing that happen...
This isn't "SupaFreak Entertainment".... but it should be!
PEACE!
Disclaimer: It's totally acceptable to ingore SupaFreak's rants. Let's just 5 star everything! -
Anything to help aspiring and creative authors... well, not anything... *shudders*
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Flashback Fridays are coming to Guardian... SupaFreak style!
That's right, Villains are going to team up and wreck some havoc on the past!
What?
Break your evil-doer free from the shackles of the norm and join Motorkill for some chaos on 1-5 predetermined or random Flashback missions!
Where?
Villain Ouroborus, Guardian server
When?
Selected Fridays at 7 PM Pacific, 8 PM Mountain, 9 PM Central, 10 PM Eastern
Why?
For Fun, XP, Rewards, Merits, Badges and basically to relive some wicked villainy!
Who can join?
Any Villain or Rogue alignment character meeting the level requirements for the selected Flashback Friday! Early forum sign-ups will be guaranteed a spot on the team first, but anyone capable of joining is welcome to try and steal a spot!
When's the next Freaky Flashback Friday?
Undetermined as of 6/8/11.
TBA Freaky Flashback Friday Roster2:
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Now accepting sign-ups HERE!