Venture

I'd removed them well before the recent unpleasantness, actually.

I don't change what I'm doing to make my mother happy; I'm certainly not going to change for people on the internet.

The following changes apply only to the version on Test, incorporating Architect features from Issue 15 that may not go live.

Thanks to another reset of the AE database, the arc's ID on Test has changed again to #225315.

<ul type="square">[*]Small changes to Act I spawns to help ensure Bianchis and Polettis actually fight each other. It is remotely possible that this could put Katrina at odds with a Bianchi patrol...obviously the raid is an inside job....[*]Changes to Act II's spawns for the same reason. Warriors added to patrols, with the map's spawns set to either patrols, a few Poletti spawns, or Bianchi/Poletti battles. It's not perfect (the other gangs have evidently declared a truce to pick on the Family, and occasionally Bianchis and Polettis come into contact without combat) but it's better.[*]All Bianchi and Poletti units recolored and renamed with a custom info field for each faction. This does make them more uniform in appearance but makes it easy to see who you're running into.[*]Poletti Crollo unit deleted -- never really liked them and needed the space for the above customization. Battitore given Jawbreaker to beef them up a bit.[*]Several small text edits to clean up a few points.[/list]
Feedback on the changes very much appreciated from those trying out i15 on Test.

Thanks to another reset, the arc's ID on Test has changed again to #225317. I haven't made any new changes in this patch.

The following changes apply only to the version on Test, incorporating Architect features from Issue 15 that may not go live.

Thanks to another reset of the AE database, the arc's ID on Test has changed again to #225316.

<ul type="square">[*]Neutralizer units changed to Electric Blast (standard plus Short Circuit)/Cold Domination (Hard). The FX aren't perfect but this gives them an END drain (which they still set off without targets....) and debuffs that should make them effective without being too annoying.[*]Act V moved to Steel Canyon, same map as Act II (lampshaded). The Warburg map just wasn't going to work. I have determined through my own testing that all Patrol details set to Rogue will consider each other to be friendly regardless of enemy group or such (/bugged it). To get around this, I gave the map to Malta Enigma Silver, set five Hard battles (the max) between Malta and Malta Enigma Silver, and gave half the spawn points to Rikti patrols on Rogue. The result is that any time forces that should be hostile to each other come into contact they should actually fight.[/list]
Feedback on the changes very much appreciated from those trying out i15 on Test.

They really should allow us to use some of the slots as added storage, for like custom groups and stuff, I'd buy all 5 then, use a couple for some villain groups and the rest for arcs.

No.

Works for state lotteries....

Arc #24926, "The Ambitions of Small Men"
tl;dr: 3 stars. Offenses: poor dialog, too many allies, weak theme

Reviewed on: 6/16/2009
Level Range: 10-20/10-20/10-20/20-20/5-54
Character used: Amy Sunflower/Virtue

Your Contact for this one is a Skull, Brittle Bones. It seems a group of Hellions has gone Axe Crazy and is tearing up a neighborhood between Galaxy City and Kings Row. Not only are they out for blood, they're turbocharged. "BB" knows if he takes his people into the streets it's just going to get a lot more people killed so he's looking for hero help. In return he promises to keep the Skulls out of Galaxy City. That's not much of a deal, frankly, but then your typical superhero would almost certainly want to shut these Hellions down in any case and if there aren't any Skulls to bust at the same time at least the job will be easier. It's out into the streets onto a city map to defeat a "strange Hellion" and rescue four Gravediggers, which are LTs with Thugs. The Hellions on this map appear to be the arsonist types usually found in Steel Canyon. The "Frightening Hellion" was a Boss (meaning Elite normally) with Energy Blast and Ice Blast powers; he dropped me almost instantly. I combined some insps and rezzed as my allies took him down. He turned out not to be the target though. That was a "Strange Hellion" LT with Electrical Blast/GotHeld. Then it was just a matter of grovelling over the map to find the last hostage, dragging a small army around. The net effect of the allies was to ensure I got practically no experience or tickets...I got 3 tickets bonus on finding the last hostage.

BB says he's agreed to hold off the violence as long as you're making progress but says you aren't doing that yet. I feel like reminding him I can bust him for breathing while wearing gang colors, but instead take the next mission, which is to look for clues. You're sent to a police station where the popup says you can pick up some gang files from the safe. The map was almost empty except for a Mook Hitman, which I took out before opening the safe. That, of course, triggered more Mooks. I have no idea what they're doing all the way out here, but moving on.... When you clear the spawns you get a Clue saying the Mooks were hired by one of the Strange Hellions to trash the place.

The files say the new Hellions are part of the "Infernal Posse", led by Hell Breaker out of a warehouse in Galaxy City. Off you go, but Your Hellion Is In Another Castle: Hell Breaker is gone, leaving another upscale Hellion named Ash Bringer (Fire Melee/Radiation Emission Boss/LT, I think). After his beatdown Ash Bringer tells you they bought an empowering ritual and the components to perform it from the Warriors, but didn't know that it wears off, which he thinks is why you were able to beat him. On your return BB tells you about a club out in Talos he knows the Hellions sometimes go to.

The club, the old PDP map, turns out to have Infernal Posse, Outcasts and Warriors on it. I was immediately hit with one spawn and three patrols on entry, which I survived only by burning just about my entire tray. Hell Breaker turned out to be a Stone Melee/Storm Summoning EB/Boss with two guards, and very annoying as he kept me slowed by 50% and healed his guards. The Warrior responsible for selling the ritual, Widsith, was a Dual Blades/Willpower Boss/LT with one ambush wave. Unfortunately Hell Breaker tells you "your (sic) too late" as he's sent his best men with the treasure hunters that sold Widsith the materials in the first place. They're going to a site on the coast where they'll all be permenently empowered, making them the strongest gang in the city (or so he thinks).

So, for the Fight Scene, you're sent to the Talos coastline outdoor map to find 10 Hellion hostages and defeat one (custom)...Circle of Thorns Boss, but we saw that coming. The hostages are all allies, so once again, kiss rewards goodbye. Oh, and you have a 60 minute time limit. Yay. BB holds up his end of the bargain but says this doesn't make you friends and if he catches you on his turf "it's $archetype breaking time". Kid, I just wiped out the people YOU were afraid of....

The arc does have a theme, though it doesn't do much with it. The dialog needs a lot of work. BB in particular has way too much attitude for a gangbanger in his position. There is really no need to include so many allies. They really cut into the rewards.

Arc #123675, "The Lost Choir: Chapter One: The Old Testament"
tl;dr: 1 star. Offenses: incomplete

Reviewed on: 6/15/2009
Level Range: 1-54/40-54/40-54/35-54/1-54
Character used: Agent Cerulean/Justice

I'm not sure how this ended up in the Neutral queue when it's labeled Heroic and opens with " It is always good to see an upholder of the law like yourself." Hello, Soldier of Arachnos here...moving on... Abbas John of the Church of Yeshua Electus (faux Christians) needs your help. Their churches were all destroyed during the first Rikti invasion, and the new chuch they've been building in Salamanca is having problems with the local critters. You're asked to intervene. The entry popup is not quite Daniel 11:30-32 as it claims (it's Daniel 11:31, as far as I can tell). You have to rescue five workers from Tuatha on the Croatoa endgame map. Spawns are packed in tight so this was actually fairly tough, given how hard Tuatha hit and the defense debuff on their Quicksand. One of the rescued workers said he heard one of the Tuatha talking about a "choir", which puzzles John.

John's research leads him to contacting the Vanguard, who tell him the Rikti world for "council" could be translated as "choir" and directs him (and thus you) to a Rikti base that might have a lead. Cue another not quite Bible passage (says Nehemiah 1:8-10, appears to be Nehemiah 1:11). You're to take down the base leader (a Magus named High Priest Fara'sii..."Pharisee"?) and look for clues (a computer with all the working parts yanked out and covered with runes and symbols like an altar). Since the Rikti killed off their gods millennia ago this is interesting, to say the least.

More shop talk with Vanguard reveals these Rikti are a Restructurist offshoot that believes the Rikti have to reconnect with the gods to have any chance of victory. They're being hunted down by the other Restructurists so you get to try to rescue their high priest.... Off to more Rikti caves. Today's Biblical almost-quote is Genesis 50:16-18 (actually part of Genesis 50:17). Between hot Rikti on Rikti action, you have to rescue two Vanguard LTs (maybe more, they're optional) and High Priest Sadu'sii ("Sadducee", rivals of Pharisees). Sadu'sii warns that religion is necessary for a society, that without it "the Soaring One" invades, and if the Soaring One reaches a world, all life ends.

John's discussions with Sadu'sii are a bit of a disappointment in the next act. The theist Rikti don't know anything about the Tuatha attack. Sadu'sii does implore John to look into the Spirit Realm the Tuatha hail from, though. This "Soaring One" is supposedly a being that feeds on sentience but can be driven off by faith, and its "Infinite Eyes" may have already infiltrated the Spirit Realm. You're sent to one of the "spirit world" Croatoa maps, where yhe popup quotes Job 38:11-13 when it means Job 12. There's a Tuatha to rescue, who tells you the "Infinite Eyes" drove off the Redcaps but then enslaved the Tuatha themselves. The "Infinite Eyes" are little white imps with Sonic powers (Blast, maybe Resonance too, they died fast) guarding three "Dimensional Tendrils" you have to destroy, along with a Boss, The Eye of the Beyond. When the Eye goes down you're struck by images of flying creatures destroying churches and altars and a seething mass flowing into Paragon City....

...which starts happening as soon as you get back. You're off to defend Atlas Park from one of these attacks. Exodus 9:16 is labeled as Exodus 9:15-17. "The Lost Choir", a faction made up of various mobs with angelic appearances and names (B'nai Elohim, "sons of god", Melakh Elohim "messenger of god", etc.). There are "Seraphim" everywhere (Psychic Blast/Fiery Aura Bosses) with largish spawns; the B'nai are healers so nail them first. (Same for the Ophanim, "wheels", described as guards of the throne of god.) The Big Bad, and your target, is "Nephalim" (that's plural, by the way..."Naphil" is singular, IIRC), a Fire Blast/Invulnerability AV/EB who is the son of "Xhantranos". The debriefing narrates Nephilim exploding on defeat and you passing out; the story continues in arc #136959.

In one sense, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is not a complete story, being that it is part I of VII. However, it is a complete story in the sense that it contains a beginning, a middle and an end, and it answers all of the questions it raised itself. A reader would not feel cheated if he did not go on to read the other six parts. That is simply not the case here. This arc does nothing but raise questions that it then does not answer -- for instance, how is it that the Rikti, who threw religion under the bus thousands of years ago, are on top of this divine threat when human religions, mystics and psychics are evidently caught flatfooted? Maybe this is answered in a subsequent story but that's just not good enough; it should have been answered here. This arc is, at best, precipitating event and rising action with the other three parts of Freitag's Triangle missing in action. Making your story fit into the space provided is part of the craft of writing. However much people may wish we had more than five missions and 100K to work with, we do not. It is the task of every Architect to get his story to fit into that space which is something this story does not do. Graded by the standards every Architect project is expected to adhere to, this arc is a failure.

&lt;QR&gt;

Anyone willing to make an issue out of body-bagged corpses, when by level 45 they must know perfectly well that such are a euphemism mandated by the game's Teen rating, is either literal-minded to the point of unreasonableness or deliberately trolling.

In neither case do their criticisms bear close examination.

The devices in Act I have a tendency to spawn together on some maps, even on Live. I have no freaking idea why, since all the Tech Lab maps have ample detail points for collections.

The patrols in Act V are all set to Rogue. They shoot at each other properly outside, but the ones inside the warehouse have a tendency to ignore each other. This is why I've moved almost all the action outside the warehouse. I've bugged it, but frankly I'm beginning to think that it might be better to lose the unique map.

I'm thinking of changing Act V to an outdoor Paragon City map: 6-3 was trying to keep moving when Ja'dar ports in with his forces, starting a running gunfight, which allows 2-0 to catch up, wackiness ensues. Maybe use the Steel Canyon Mayhem/Safeguard map, have it end (almost) where it all began...would also hammer home why you can't just let them all slug it out.

2-0's The Reason You Suck Speech would be better delivered in a cut scene of some kind but we don't have that option. (And hopefully never will -- can you imagine the cut scenes in the Mary Sue arcs?)

The following changes apply only to the version on Test, incorporating Architect features from Issue 15 that may not go live.


Due to a resetting of the AE database the arc has been republished. The new ID is #215713.

<ul type="square">[*]Due to another round of changes to custom powers, Katrina has Psychic Shockwave again and not Drain Psyche. Federico no longer has Foot Stomp (but isn't forced into KO Blow). Diablo regained some of the more obnoxious powers in Willpower; considering cutting him to Regen secondary depending on future changes.[*]Darrin O'Mallory in Act III is now an combatant ally. He's using one of the Loyalist models meaning he's technically an Underling so don't expect him to last long in combat.... (Debriefing text assumes he gets beat up but survives.) His rescue now triggers Nicia's spawn. Nicia is technically an ally (non-com) as well but her rescue ends the mission -- she's set to Ally just to keep her from bolting to the door on rescue.[/list]

The following changes apply only to the version on Test, incorporating Architect features from Issue 15 that may not go live.

Due to a resetting of the AE database, the arc has been republished. The new ID is #215712.

<ul type="square">[*]Due to more changes in custom powers, Esiliaar now has both Psionic Assault and Pain Domination on Hard.[*]The Knight twins in Act I are allies again; text explicitly states you give them replacement Medicom beacons. (They tend to faceplant fast above CL1.)[/list]

The following changes apply only to the version on Test, incorporating Architect features from Issue 15 that may not go live.

Due to a resetting of the Test AE database, the arc's ID is now #215711.

<ul type="square">[*]The base faction for acts I and V is now "Malta Enigma Silver", which is described as an advanced-weapons R&amp;D unit. "Robotics Engineers", using Robotics (all three Pulse Rifle attacks, Battle Drones) and Willpower (Mind Over Body, HPT, FH) replace Op Enginners. "Neutralizers", using Electric Melee (on Hard) and Electrical Blast (Charged Bolts, Lightning Bolt, Short Circuit) replace Sappers. Neutralizers aren't working well thanks to Artificial Stupidity (they don't wait for targets to use Short Circuit) but I would like to hear opinions on the replacements anyway.[*]Thanks to the changes in required powers, Bluehawk Avenger has Buckshot and Flamethrower again, so I took away Full Auto.[*]Battles between Malta and Malta Enigma Silver in act IV reduced to Easy; Medium ones were leaving too high a mob density.[/list]

In this case, give me the unloved, the groan-worthy, the pain in the butt guys that have some of the best story potential. I want stories focused around Malta, Knives of Artemis, or Rularuu.

"Blowback", #4643, but then you've already done one of mine.

This thread is pretty much dead. I'm doing my reviews in this thread now. If you want me to review your arc please PM it to me here or in-game, with arc number, morality and approximate level range.

Of course, it's not like I own it, so if anyone else wants to pick up arcs posted here, knock yourselves out.

For Darkfire, I'd recommend "Two Households Alike", #126582.

I've always liked Bocor because he's one of the few Contacts redside that not only treats the player with some degree of respect but does so when you're just a level 5 schmoe fresh in from Mercy.

I'd like to use him as a Contact myself, just waiting until I have an idea for an arc that would warrant it.

Edit: typo

Arc #97774, "A Simple Misunderstanding
tl;dr: 4 stars. Offenses: "just a bunch of stuff that happened", jumpy level range

Reviewed on: 6/13/2009
Level Range: 20-29/25-37/25-39/1-54
Character used: Agent Cerulean/Justice

I know we have issues managing level ranges at the moment, mercifully fixed in issue 15, but really, that's just a mess.

Your Contact is a barrel. Actually, it's Sal "Your Pal" Santori, pawn shop owner, who is Not Being Seen at the moment. A few days ago he got a nice necklace, which he quickly sold for a good profit. Unfortunately the original owner wants it back. Sal needs some muscle to retrieve it. The purchaser was Guido "The Tongue" Donatacci, a Family dealer in stolen cell phones. The map is one of the larger warehouse maps, and Guido is a Consigliere type Boss. Unfortunately he doesn't have the necklace. He says he wasn't a hundred feet away from Sal's before some Circle of Thorns goons mugged him for it, so he's been beaten up twice in two days now and isn't very happy. Neither is Sal, who now informs you that the necklace belonged to one of the Tsoo.....

Sal checks his surveillance tapes and manages to pull a shot of the Circle guys who took the necklace. After asking around (from inside the barrel?) he gets a name, Karnak (Johnny Carson's gone bad? Eh, only us old guys are going to get that one....the nav bar says "Kaltrak" anyway, until you zone in and then the subtitle says Karnak...egads) and a location, a nearby cave system. You're off to see the wizard. As you crawl through the caves you discover the body of a Tsoo gangster killed in a crossfire between Freakshow and the Circle. Yep, sure enough, Karnak (as the mob is named) does not have the necklace any more. (Though he does have a cute death line.) The necklace, which has a powerful Tsoo spirit bound to it, was stolen by the Freakshow. Karnak gives up the name of the Freak Tank responsible, Thirty Six Hundred Baud, and you smack him one more time just because.

So, off to beat up some Freaks. This uses the Freakshow Warehouse map (usually seen in the Nemesis/Freakshow mission). The Tsoo are already here, usually getting whumped, and sure enough, Your Necklace Is In Another Castle. 3600 has sold the necklace to "some Skull guy named Mr. Bones or something". I don't like the direction this is going in, 'coz I think I know who he means...and just to complicate things, the Tsoo leader took off already and he knows about "Bones" too.

The Tsoo leader, Mr. Lo, has already been to see Sal by the time you get back, and lets Sal in on the big secret: the spirit in the necklace tries to control its owner. Guido didn't have it long enough, Karnak could fight it off and 3600 was too stupid to be affected. Mr. Bones is probably not so lucky. Lo told Sal to stay out of it, but Sal doesn't like loose ends and wants you to in anyway. The Fight Scene takes place on the flooded office map (inexplicably). Mr. Lo is available as an ally but I bypassed him until after facing down Mr. Bones, who turned out not to be Mr. Bocor as I expected but just a random Skull goon amped up by the necklace to a Dark Melee/Invulnerability Elite Boss. (This is just as well. If it was Mr. Bocor, the entry pop up would have had to say "You enter the office in search of your target. As you do so you can't help but notice you've been blasted into a smoldering pile of ashes.") He took me in the first fall, then I came back with a stack of reds and gunned him down. The rest of the map was filled with the custom "Possessed Skulls" faction, basically Skulls that Took A Level in Badass. I had to go back for Lo to finish the mission. He was, I think, a Katana/Super Reflexes Elite Boss and probably would have made entirely too short work of Bones, since Lo spawned at +1. He makes off with the necklace as soon as you complete the mission. In the debriefing Sal tells you Lo is willing to look the other way regarding the complications in getting the necklace back, then has a bit of an epiphany I won't spoil.

I will say that I was heading for three stars until the final debriefing, as the arc does not have a theme and wasn't that funny. The debriefing put it over the top for four stars. It would be nice if the level range wasn't so jumpy, something that might be addressed next issue. It's a light arc with some underplayed humor.

Arc #170506, "A Midnight Almost Tragedy"
tl;dr: 2 stars. Offenses: "just a bunch of stuff that happens", problematic mobs, missing info text, writing issues

Reviewed on: 6/13/2009
Level Range: 5-54
Character used: Lady Avernus/Virtue

This one has an interesting beginning; the first briefing narrates you as walking down a street in Kings Row when a teenager waves you down screaming that "they" took his friend. When you calm him down he tells you "they" are the Circle of Thorns and after he got away he tracked them to a warehouse on the east side. Inside I almost immediately ran into "Melos", a Plant Control/Thorny Assault Boss (dialed up to Hard at least on the Control, and with no info) who flattened me on the first try. Michael, the friend, runs away ranting when rescued. Bobby seems unusually knowledgeable for a teenager as he realizes the Circle must have tried to possess him only to end up with both souls still in the body.

His Genre Savvyness turns out be a result of having a relic collector for a history teacher. Dr. Cain has an "Omnidirectional Compass" that can point to anyone if you put a sample of their DNA in it. This is way too scientiffy for a magical item, really should be "a drop of blood" or the like, but moving on.... You're off to borrow the compass from Dr. Cain. You end up on the Midnight Club map, which is under attack by the Circle. Dr. Cain is among the casualties. His notes indicate Circle kidnappings are on the rise. You also run into Eliza, who claims to be Michael's brother, an Archery/Trick Arrow Boss ally. The Big Bad is Leukos, an Archery/Radiation Emission Boss.

For Act III, Bobby and Eliza go off to look for Michael (two kids looking for a Circle kidnapping victim? What Could Possibly Go Wrong?) while you hit up your old Contacts for information on recent Circle activity. You get a lead pointing to some caves (Troll type) with four hostages. One of these turns out to be a Midnighter Boss with Electric Blast/Storm Summoning (Boss), an ally...just what my Tanker wanted, a moron AI armed with knockback powers. Between her and another Midnighter hostage you learn that a Circle mage named Thanatos has developed an "easier way" of possessing people, and the Circle has acquired a large stash of nerve gas which they play to use to kill lots of people at once so they can steal all the bodies. Um, you kind of need them alive for that, but whatever... The gas is conveniently stored in these caves so you destroy it.

When you get back and check in, you have two emails waiting. One, from Bobby and Eliza, says they've tracked Michael to Oranbega and they're going in, marking them as Darwin Award candidates. The other, from Karol (from the last act) says they've tracked Thanatos down and are sending a task force to help take him out. Both give GPS co-ordinates and of course, they're all going to the same place. Michael turns out to be under the control of a Circle Boss named Pellas, a Broadsword/Fiery Aura. Between spawning at +2 and me being an Invul/Fire Tanker it was almost impossible to hurt him; I pretty much brought him down with AirSup, Blackwand and temp powers. This pretty much wiped out my inspiration tray. Thanatos turned out to be a Mind Control/Ice Assault (I think) EB, glad I bothered to hit Unstoppable first.... You get an "ambush" of Midnighters to help you as you beat him down whether you want them or not. This (and the ally, Eliza, I bypassed) is not all that helpful when the Big Bad has Confuse. Fortunately between Gauntlet and Invinc I had plenty of Taunt on him. Anyway, you do have to free Eliza to finish the mission (Bobby was nowhere in sight, and no explanation given after the fact). In the debriefing he thanks you and says the Midnighters are going to help exorcise Mike.

The arc has no theme, some problematic mobs and writing issues. While I could understand using custom Bosses due to level range issues making it hard to guarantee human models, the Bosses don't use powers that are typically used by the Circle, making them rather gratuitous. (The BS/FA one was particularly egregious, and extremely problematic for a number of builds as well.) It needs work.

The original complaint:

[ QUOTE ]

Way too many missions of the same damn enemy group with a plot that doesn't even try to make sense. At least it gets a sudden and IIRC asspully solve-out in the end, until then it's three plot lines that do not tie together at all.


[/ QUOTE ]

Doesn't sound to me like he's complaining it was too simple for Malta.

If you can't see what's wrong with that sentence, I can't help you.

If you don't like "World Wide Red" that's your prerogative but it's also not a debate issue. If you're going to argue that it has technical problems, that it doesn't make sense or is too convoluted, you're going to have to show your work. Show me how the pieces don't fit together, or where the loose ends are, or where characters catch the Idiot Ball or are pulling a Xanatos Roulette...show me something. If you can't do that then you don't have an opinion at all.

At the very least answer my earlier question and put up examples of what you think are good canon arcs. What, according to you, is a "straightforward plot"? Is a straightforward plot allowed to have any turns or twists, any reveals at all? Or are we limited to "beat up those guys for doing stuff we don't like"? Show your work.

Arc #135563, "Forever Lost"
tl;dr: 4 stars. Offenses: canon issues

Reviewed on: 6/13/2009
Level Range: 5-29
Character used: Amy Sunflower/Virtue

Sgt. Suzanne Bernhard, of Skyway City fame, has a problem: her daughter Katie has been taken by the Lost. She knows that if she goes through police channels they'll never save her in time so she needs a hero's help. The best lead is a Lost known to hang around an illegal Family-run casino about to be raided; if he gets arrested Bernhard won't be able to talk to him. You have to get there first and get him to talk. Mike "Lost Bet" appears after you beat down the Casino Manager (Underboss) and eventually gives up the guy you're really looking for (small grammar error: "...can do you have 10 bucks?") Bernhard takes the info and asks you to come back in a few hours after she's had a chance to run down the leads.

The guy you're looking for, Jason (Katie's boyfriend), is holed up in a warehouse the PPD has been watching for a while as a Lost hotspot. You're sent to a fairly large warehouse map full of Lost with a few surprises. Jason turns out to be a Broadsword/Mental Manipulation Boss/LT (I think; I was on Heroic and playing a Controller so he didn't get to do much). You get a few clues from him which make things look bad for Katie.

Time for the Fight Scene: you've got to follow up immediately on the lead you just got from Jason and hope you're in time to keep Katie from being Shifted. Bernhard tells you she'll try to arrange for PPD backup and may be there herself. The last act takes place on an office map. There are a few surprises along the way again, in the form of some recurring Bosses, but you eventually reach Katie to find, as the title implies, this one's got a Downer Ending: Katie is not only already on Shift but willingly. Her mom does spawn as a hostage during the fight; for me this was Rocks Fall Everyone Dies style as she and two Headmen guards spawned literally right on top of me. Fortunately Seeds of Win was up. Bernhard explains Katie's disaffection in the debriefing (typo: "shot" instead of "shoot").

The arc is well written; one of the recurring Bosses is very sympathetic, particularly in his second appearance. It does have canon issues though. The Lost, particularly Mike, are way out of character here. From their first exposure to Shift they are described as being somber and business-like; running around losing money at casinos doesn't really fit. There's another small issue at the end when Bernhard says Katie's mutation is irreversible: we've got a cure for the Lost now and works up to Pariah stage. Of course, restoring her humanity isn't going to do anything about the real issues there. While it could use some improvements, it is still a good arc and worth playing, particularly if you've got a low-level hero you're leveling up through AE.

&lt;QR&gt;

So, from the rest of your response it seems pretty clear to me that it is a waste of everyone's time to have you review any MA less than 5 missions as there is no way you will give it any kind of good rating (regardless of the actual quality of the MA).


False. I four-starred the single-act arc "ParaCon" and five-starred the three act arc "The Horrible Mr. Caractacus". A vetting of my reviews should turn up several other short arcs with good ratings.

While I admit it is unlikely that a single-act arc could ever earn five stars I wouldn't rule it out. It would almost certainly have to be a very funny comedy.

It's the Synapse Taskforce of storyarcs. Way too many missions of the same damn enemy group with a plot that doesn't even try to make sense.

The plot of "World Wide Red" is very straightforward: Malta seeks to reinstate government control of superhumans by having China take credit for the mass murder of supers through an amabassador replaced by a shapechanger then capitalizing on the resulting crisis. If it was any more straightforward it would be a Steven Segal movie. It's not exactly a Xanatos Gambit.

As for it having the same enemy faction throughout: an arc should have exactly as many factions as the story requires, no less and not a single one more. I felt bad about throwning Tsoo and Freakshow into "Two Households Alike" but all the reviewers so far felt they were used appropriately. Throwing gratuitous factions at the player, especially custom ones, is no different from bad action movies that use lots of FX and explosions to try to cover up the lack of story. I stopped being impressed with that when I was 12. (Back then I used to keep a box of 3x5 index cards with movie reviews on them. When my parents complained I was only grading them on the FX I started grading the FX separately.)

While I wouldn't ask people to try to pick "the best" arc in the game, I think it might be fair to ask those critical of my standards to name, say, three to five canon arcs they would give five stars to were they AE projects. I would name "World Wide Red", "Melvin and the Mysterious Malta Group" (barely, excessive use of Your Princess Is In Another Castle), "Oh, Wretched Man!", "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge", "High Roller's Last Gamble", "The Hammer of the World" and probably a few others I can't think of at the moment.

I disagree with this stance as it is the equivalent of saying that only novels are worth reading as their is no such thing as a well written or entertaining short story.

Five missions is a short story. A novel would be more like "World Wide Red" at 15 acts (not counting FedExes). "World Wide Red" is easily one of the best arcs in the game but I don't think everything needs to be that long and I really, really don't want to have to wade through 15 act player-made arcs. I shudder to think of what a 15 act Mary Sue arc would look like, and don't really want to go through 14 acts only to find out in act 15 that it's (e.g.) a Shaggy Dog story.

Even worse, if we were actually given that much space we wouldn't get a plethora of 15 act arcs -- only the most egregious of the bad authors would do that, under the usual principle that those who write the worst write the most and you can't stop them. No, what we'd really get is one or two act arcs with 98224398742492374 custom mobs in them, not one of which would be the slightest bit more interesting than anything seen anywhere else in the game, since they're all nothing but piles of hit points that shoot back.

A one or two act arc is good for nothing but a fast joke, or an O. Henry or Frederic Brown vignette -- but we don't have any Henrys or Browns that I know of.

As for the rest, I don't see how the subject matter of any of my arcs could be called "mundane" but de gustibus non whatever and all that.

Arc #170547, "The Beating Heart of Astoria: A Play in Five Acts"
tl;dr: 4 stars. Offenses: Everyone is Jesus in Purgatory

Reviewed on: 6/12/2009
Level Range: 40-54/40-54/40-54/40-54/1-54
Character used: Agent Cerulean/Justice

A "Stagehand" claims you are to the the lead actor in a play about Astoria. The briefing appears to say that you should disregard anything in the canon for the purposes of this mission, which is never a good sign. After an overly obfuscated and pretentious introduction to three characters (The Assassin, The Thaumaturgist, the Paladin), you are sent to the burning office (Hellions) map (Banished Pantheon spawns) to meet up with the Assassin (Assault Rifle/Super Reflexes Boss ally) and destroy the heart of the beast. Freeing him spawns three altars to destroy; destroying them spawns a horde of (friendly) Stagehands that announce the heart of the beast is exposed. Only it isn't; when you get to the last room the Big Bad is an Understudy (Sonic Blast/DiedTooFast) who claims to only be the herald of Mot. In the debriefing the Assassin concludes he can't be of any help to you as there is no single target for him to kill.

Act II's briefing continues in this vein, not explaining what it is you're going to do until after you've agreed to do it. In the acceptance speech the Thaumaturgist mocks the Assassin for expecting the villain to reveal himself in the first act and concludes the only course of action is to sacrifice an innocent to Mot in an attempt to appease it. This is probably why the Stagehand said "the characters are damned but the cast will not suffer for their actions".... You enter an office map and meet up with the Thaumaturgist (Radiation Blast/Dark Armor), which spawns three sacrifices to find. The guards on the hostages warn you that the script has been rewritten. Freeing the hostages (who are all willing to die for the greater good) triggers another Understudy (Sonic Blast/Fire Blast Boss), who says Mot's hunger is insatiable. The Thaumaturgist concludes in the debriefing that the task is impossible.

Act III brings us to the Paladin, who basically wants to just kill everything and let the gods sort it out. You're sent to the Chimera graveyard map to detonate a bomb. Fortunately I had Hide so I could just run around with impunity looking for the damn thing.... Destroying the bomb starts its countdown but there isn't enough time for you to escape. You have to find the Paladin, who uses his power to shield you both from the explosion. The debriefing reveals the bomb had no effect at all, and the Paladin steps aside.

Each having failed, all three of your former allies turn to the service of Mot in Act IV. So, off with their heads. You're sent to the Mother Mayhem map to take them out. You have to defeat a Pantheon Mask first to spawn them. Along the way are some non-hostile ghosts who complain about the ailments they had in life and such. Only the Thaumaturgist presented any real difficulty for me thanks to the huge defense debuffs. The Stagehand tells you in the debriefing the end is next, but not a happy one, as it was never the lead's role to save Astoria.

For the finale the Stagehand sends you to sing for Astoria. I don't sing, court order... Anyway, you're sent to one of the very short one-room Council maps with a single glowie labeled "Microphone" and Mot, an AV/EB (who is your Contact, but we saw that coming). You're told in the nav bar to sing and then meet the stagehands backstage for a feast. Noticing the AV was hostile I attacked and killed it; it never fired back. Then I clicked on the glowie and got Mission Failed. According to the briefing, this was actually a success; evidently had you followed the script you would have freed Mot. Instead he returns to his prision defeated. The souvenir explains what all this was supposed to symbolize, which in retrospect was weakly foreshadowed in Act IV. I don't think a good story requires this kind of heavy-handed exposition.

I've been marking down arcs for being "just a bunch of stuff that happened" and getting flak for it. This arc is an example of one of the things that can happen when the Architect goes too far in the other direction. In this case we've hit the "Everyone is Jesus in Purgatory" negative trope where everything is so mired in symbolism and allegory that you can make up almost any account at all to fit the references. The dialog is very good and the Architect uses the available tools very inventively, but the result is a near-incomprehensible mess. This would have been a three-star arc at best if not for the technical skill behind it. If you're a theater or LitCrit major, or enjoy trying to make sense out of Lost, this arc is for you. Otherwise prepare to be boggled most of the time.