Tubbius

I figured on all that much. I've got a petition in explaining everything. We'll see if anything happens.

Last night at 1 a.m., I logged off with one of my arcs at 152 rates and a 5-star average.

Today at 5:26 p.m., I log on to that same arc at 152 rates, a 4-star average, and 25 tickets I can claim from one arc or other of mine. No numbers of ratings have changed on any of my seven arcs.

So what gives? I've gone from page 3 on the overall list to page 3 on a strictly 4-star search.

It took about 40 ratings to get the arc (Hammer and Sickle of Paragon City, arc 351727) from 4-star limbo back up to 5-stars, and now, with no discernible change, this has happened.

Let's just say I'm not too happy.

Thank you! I'm not the MOST up to date on in-game lore and backstories, but these comments are definitely solid and can point me in a direction that can help me tie everything together a little better. I'll see what I can do!

Glenn,

First off, thank you for the feedback. I'll definitely take that into consideration. I do understand the difficulty with the character management and motivations, and any specific suggestions you or others might give would certainly be appreciated. For me, the biggest issue is the relationship between the main rescue plot and the Council/Column subplot. As it is, the two are loosely intertwined--a distinct possibility in the world of heroics, though not necessarily the strongest for telling a story!

Second off, thank you for the suggestions regarding the use of punctuation and mechanics. However, I feel I'm doing fine there; a careful look through current style guide usage shows that the punctuation throughout is correct and recommended. I will, though, see what I can do regarding tightening up the language for ease of reading. Thank you for pointing that out.

Finally, thank you for your overall objectivity. I understand how some arcs don't grab some players, and that's perfectly fine. Thank you for giving it a try!

AND WAHOO! As of this rating, Hammer and Sickle is up to a 5-star average again at 152 rates!

--Tubbius

= = = = =

OR NOT. As of today, 1-17-2011, I logged in to find the arc STILL at 152 ratings, but with my having 25 random tickets to claim on something somewhere with no comments on anything, and the arc having dropped to a 4-star average. What gives? Not blaming Glenn or anything. Just needed somewhere to post this where folks might know something.

Well, all seven of mine work, I think. So there you folks go! One per night for a week!

Yayyyy!

So, do I review my own arc for this, or do I sit this week out? What do you want me to do, Bubbawheat?

Until the End of the World (431270)

I ran it on a 50 assault rifle/devices/munitions mastery blaster, Pistola.

Overall, it's another well-written, well-designed arc in the AE machine. Facing the bots mastermind for the first time in mission 1, in a tight space next to an elevator door, was difficult, to say the least, and the objectives are a little vague in spots, as someone else mentioned, but given the player's lack of knowledge of the events, going vague might be the best way to handle things here. One thing I might consider suggesting is doing something to reduce the bombs in the flaming map and the destroyable stuff in the big warehouse; these do add personality to the arc, yes, but they can also distract the player from the overall storyline.

Mission 2, in particular, does a fine job of chaining objectives, which can be difficult to accomplish properly. The Freaks are a nice change of pace, as well, and the robots--a custom group, I think?--appear to be balanced overall. The final boss, though, was smashing me for 800+ damage. That might be able to be toned down somewhat.

As noted above, overall, what we have here is a good arc that's well-written with a mostly easy to follow focus.

Two thumbs up.

Might as well submit one.

Arc Title: Hammer and Sickle of Paragon City
Arc ID: 351727
Morality: Heroic
Level Range: 30-54
Factions: 5th Column and Council; one Elite Boss
Synopsis: Two former Soviet agents turned heroes, American Hammer and New York Sickle, have gone missing on what should have been a routine clearing of a 5th Column base. Find out what happened to them, and help your heroic contacts stop a plot by the 5th Column to unleash chemical warfare on the Council.

Casualties of War. . . . I was playing through this with an SG teammate of mine, so we had two Empaths going--one a plant controller, the other an archery defender. For my part, I was on Tubbius, my level 50 plant control/empath/ice epic character. Hilarity ensued as we kept a constant stream of Recovery/Regen Auras and Healing Auras going. While my friend died a few times, Vengeance came in handy, and then he was rezzed so we could continue on our way.

The strongest point of this is the story, as Glenn notes immediately above. This story is exceptionally well-written overall, and the final clues in the last mission are agonizingly heart-rending. The arc does provide a potent challenge, and it clearly shows a passion for staying close to canon while digging a little deeper.

Mission 1: Short and action packed. I don't think I've ever SEEN this map before.

Mission 2: Frantic and busy for the first few fights until my friend and I could pause, get our bearings, and discuss what was going on. "We're in the middle of a two-way fight!" "Great. Now what do we do?" "Rescue some dudes." "And kill anything else that moves? OK!" Very neat use of dialog throughout, but why particularly do you have differences in the Rikti who speak in symbols and the ones who speak in traditional "This way: we talk" sorts of language?

Mission 3: I love this map. I always have. However, I do agree that the number of body bags is excessive. My friend and I clicked ALL of them expecting one/some of them to be the people we were looking for.

Mission 4: This hospital map, while fitting for a mission like this, is impossibly tight for maneuverability. This was only complicated by the EB spawning at the far end of a very tight hall filled with curtains and junk.

Mission 5: Again, the clues are amazing in this mission. However, not realizing I was hunting for glowies in the end led to being a little puzzled and misled by the random encounters throughout. They're perfectly fitting, but I kept expecting to find a hero here or there, and I got lucky in noticing the first glowy flashing on the ground while I was flying by after taking down the EB. After finding the first one, the others were within a small area, which made the last moments of the mission go by quickly.

Personally, I five-starred the story on the strength of its writing and attention to detail. While the outside maps and the hospital and the many glowies aren't necessarily my style, they're somebody's style, and they're all perfectly suited to this arc. I wouldn't CHANGE anything, as it all fits in very well, but I know that these particular elements might or might not appeal to certain players.

Very well done on the whole!

I was cloned from Santa DNA found on a chimney?

YAY!

Will keep folks posted if my next toon (level 43 pacted Mind Control/Empath Prof. White) hits 50 any time soon!

Just played through 457506 on a level 36 Thugs/Traps Mastermind, Tubbius Regalis. Overall, Tubby had no trouble with the arc whatsoever, apart from a slightly hairy moment coming into mission 3. The "breaking the fourth wall" element in the intro and outro dialogues took a little getting used to, but in the long run, it was a fun touch that added something different to the arc. Good work overall, with no major fixes seen!

Will give this a go. . . once I can. Maybe in the morning. Don't know yet!

So I got on last night and was playing with some friends and the rest of the group to make up a PUG. We ran alternating Lady Winter and Baby New Year missions.

Waddle the Penguin hit 50 after gaining 3 blocks. I swapped off. A couple hours later or so, Pistola hit 50 after gaining the rest of his level, too!

YAY!

Like the video clips you went with; they do indeed sum up the major objectives in the missions. It'll be interesting to see what audio you record to go with it.

My own "City of Ho Ho Ho, or A Claus in Paragon", arc 18775.

You shook this one up like Santa's belly, man.

So I grabbed a few random players out of Atlas Park and got one of them to host "City of Ho Ho Ho, or A Claus in Paragon," arc 18775--my first ever arc. It's 3 missions long, with a mix of Outcasts and Trolls. It introduces the players to Tubbius Claus, who, as your contact, claims to be Santa Claus himself, working a day job as a mid-level pencil pusher in Paragon City when he's not crimefighting. Santa, thus, might just be a little off his rocker, perhaps.

Either way, it seems that Mr. Claus has been getting tangled up with a former Army officer turned Outcast by name of Manuel Pistola--who has taken Tubbius captive with the help of Graatak, a Troll boss he has under his thumb!

We had a rough start, admittedly. We simply didn't have the damage needed to survive, with me running a Defender (which is probably my worst archetype overall hero-side), another player running a Peacebringer, and. . . someone running something else. I quickly changed out to Marcus Burns, my dual pistols/psionic blaster, restarted the arc, and we went to town.

We picked up a few other players along the way through the three missions, including one of my SG members. One player declined to vote, I couldn't vote, and the results were 15, 20, 25, and 20 tickets gained--so a solid 4 stars.

From a more objective point of view, this is one arc I definitely have sentimental memories of, with it being my first arc, where I established Tubbius Claus as an AE character with a heart. Admittedly, it could be a bit stronger--the third mission too strongly echoes the first, and the frame story setup I have going in the arc doesn't quite mesh like I want it to. It's one of those I should probably go back and some quality edits on if I get time over Christmas break before I resume teaching in January!

Overall, I enjoyed it after we really got moving, and I think the others did, too, for the most part.

Will do if I can. I feel like crap, I play on Justice, and I have lots of work 'til Wednesday.

Very! Have at it!

It's like this: the arc is languishing in 4-star Heck. If you trash it in the review, it's probably not going to change opinions about it too much in terms of getting plays. If you love it or like it, then it might just put the arc back on the 5-star map.

I'm willing to take that gamble.

As for the latest arc, "The Blue Devils", here we go!

Overall, unlike most low level content, this actually requires some time and thought to survive. The author makes excellent use of optional objectives to allow you to customize your gaming experience as a straight hero or as a vigilante; it would be nice if MA authors were able to offer different ending/intro texts based on the completion of optional objectives or not.

A good arc to run through, but be prepared to use some inspirations as you play! It's considerably tougher than what a level 5 toon can easily handle; I was running a level 35 Peacebringer who was dropped down to 5 for the arc, and I had to burn through quite a few inspirations. It wasn't anything undoable, though, and I didn't get killed at any point.

5 stars!

I like the concept! When I get time, I'll check this out. Are you taking requests?

Oh, you are!

It's that time of year. . . that time for me to plug my Christmas arc again! Check out "City of Ho Ho Ho, or A Claus in Paragon," arc 18775, if you like. It's 3 missions long, and you have to rescue a guy who claims he's Santa Claus from a vengeful Outcast and his minion, a Troll.

A Vague Notion:

Pros: LOVE the contact! Exceptionally well written mission text. Clues are plentiful.
First two missions are well-paced and not unstoppably hard.

Cons: A few particular annoyances, but possibly because I was running this on a level 49 Assault Rifle/Devices blaster (Pistola). The amount of psionic damage in this arc is absolutely ca-raaaaa-zy, man, and the custom group members seem to take some serious pain to put down. Mission 4 is particularly slow-going, with the need to hunt 5-6 glowies in the Longbow mission map with nothing else happening besides the NPC chat. The EB at the end of the arc isn't TOO bad if you stay on top of her, but the double ambush in the middle of a bridge/pit room is very difficult. Maybe 1 ambush at 50% health would be more suitable?

Knowing the arc better now, I think I could get more enjoyment out of it on a second play. It's certainly a strong arc overall in terms of action, challenge, and storytelling. That's good. However, on a first pass, it comes off almost excessively hard, at least for me.

Rated it 4-stars.

--Tubbius

It maxes at level 20, and the experience reward isn't amazingly mindblowing awesome, but if you're looking to try a fun MA mission and get in the Christmas spirit at the same time, try my "City of Ho Ho Ho, or A Claus in Paragon", arc 18775? It's a quick, easy, 3-mission romp vs. Outcasts and Trolls.

And now back to your regularly scheduled thread!

Hooray for MA Arc Club peeps!

That is all.