dugfromthearth

Mine submitted

I Will Dance On Your Grave (Arc 92630)
A voodoo priestess asks you to help her stop a voodoo bocor (Grave Dancer) who has allied with the Skulls (custom Skulls group). They are kidnapping people to turn into zombies. You must rescue the innocents, stop the raids, find Grave Dancer and defeat him.

Lvl 1-50, no EBs or AVs, soloable, 5 missions

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I've never had a problem with Vahz, but I am one of those who detest Oreobagel maps. There are plenty of other places they could be gathering for their dire plans: A small cave or outdoor place, an office building, even a casino. The random portals, difficult to spot tunnel paths, funny floating rock sections (where important glowies inevitably spawn) and just sheer length of them make them unpleasant runs.

In any case if your arc forms more or less as scripted I can't wait to try it (at least mission 4): I play a little with the Yin/Clockwork King relationship in the Easter mission I made and I love seeing how other people approach it.

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I am probably going to make mission 4 just for fun anyway. I could potentially use it for a different arc.

I am tempted to redo the Positron TF as an arc - with my own take on it. Redoing the plot massively, but keeping CoT, Vahz, and Clockwork in it.

Mission 1: CoT are raiding a tech building to steal plans to Faultline dam

Mission 2: To find entrance to Orabenga, explore sewers filled with Vahz.

Mission 3: Enter Orangebanana to stop CoT (too late)

Mission 4: Go with Penelope Yin to get Clockwork King to aid you in stopping CoT from blowing up dam (and flooding Penelope's shop in Faultline)

Mission 5: With Clockwork and Longbow allies, go to interior of dam and stop CoT from blowing it up.

Vahz and Orebanjo work well for the arc, but I have heard that people dislike them. Should I avoid them, or are rumors of the hatred exaggerated?

any automated filtering either lets people say too much, or not enough. That's the nature of automated filtering.

I suspect the devs had the choice of strict filtering or not letting us edit the text.

copy and paste the contactintro here and we will look for what it considers profane/copyrighted for you

they do that sort of thing in patches occassionally.

if not noted - for arcs that are story driven (not for a challenge, farming, etc) - add the tag SFMA (for story focused mission arc) in the description.

There are 6 pages of them already, and people will search for the tag.

the mission places the objectives in the order that they are in the mission file.

if you want to have him spawn in the back, make that the first or second objective in your mission.

You can do this by opening up the .arc file - which is just a text file, and cutting and pasting it earlier in the mission.

It should be in c:/program files/city of heroes/missions

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Rule #1 - Put in the time and effort to make something YOU are proud of. If, say, a couple of your best buddies would enjoy playing it too, that's all the better. Then have fun with it. The rest is all BS... including necessarily heeding the self proclaimed and self appointed "experts" or critics that don't want to push boundries or have their own agenda, writing clicks, or set of rules on what an arc should or should not contain.


[/ QUOTE ]

Is that your opinion as a self appointed expert?

the problem is that there are so many arcs that you could choose to just play 5 star arcs and you wouldn't run out for weeks.

I don't think there has ever been a problem with too much content in CoX before. But there is now.

and you have to accept that.

Playing an arc where they expect the ally to be at the front and it isn't - leads to a bad experience.

You should be able to guarantee they are in the front (but not necessarily the very front) by choosing the right map and putting that objective first in your mission.

On outdoor maps the spawns are almost random - not really a front, middle and back.

yes, most people's arcs just sit unplayed and unloved.

If it is a story based arc (not a challenge or farm, etc) - you can put SFMA in the description and people search for that.

But if it is not story based - that will just get you low ratings.

I Will Dance On Your Grave (Arc 92630)
SFMA - story focused mission arc
horror, voodoo, necromancy
Lvl 1-50, no EBs or AVs, soloable, 5 missions

The OP has a point, but probably not the one he intends.

MA allows players great flexibility in the content they create and play. It is up to the devs as to what they want to allow in THEIR game.

It is not up to the players - those who want to farm, or those who don't. We play in the game, the devs own the game.

I hope that the devs make efforts to ensure that there is some risk and time for reward. But I don't want the devs ensuring that everyone stops and chats for 10 minutes between missions.

Ultimately I want to see the player base larger. I want the game to make money and keep going.

If you're like me your named Doug and are 5' 10" tall with brown hair. But I don't think the game can last if it is played just by people like me.

1) You have to make missions that work in MA

If you just want to make a pure representation of your vision uncompromised by reality - write a story. The point of making a mission in MA is to have a mission that runs in CoX - whether you publish it or not.

You will drive yourself crazy if you think of stories/missions and then try to warp MA into making them. You are crazy if you decide a mission is done when half of it doesn't really work because it doesn't really work in MA.

Now there is suspension of disbelief. It is a game. Players realize it. The ally standing there waiting to be rescued requires suspension of disbelief - players will do that.

But putting in all text for a rescue ally - and it plays all at once and at the wrong time - that's just annoying.

Or putting in /ninjitsu which one shots the player - because the "mission requires stealth" is foolish.

MA is a framework for creating missions. Use it to create missions. Make the best MA missions you can. But accept the limitations and work with and around them. Don't decide what is "required" and then ignore the fact that it doesn't work, is boring, unpleasant, or fattening.

I avoid defeat alls, don't use them, don't like them.

aside from being annoying, they are anti-climactic.

Defeat the clockwork king - mission doesn't end. You have to hunt down one minion in the corner. That's not a climax, that's lame.

a favorites would be great. I would love to find people who share my opinion on arcs and play the ones they liked

largely the same as the OP

Biggest issue for me is inconsistencies:

You can trigger X objective off Y objective but not off Z objective for no apparent reason

Civilian AZ can do the Captured Hands Up animation but Civilian BQ cannot

The number of custom enemies is an issue.
The lack of scaling standard enemies is an issue - I did a Skulls arc but wanted it to be any level so I made my own custom Skulls.

What really surprised me when I was done was how small and short my 5 mission arc was. Weeks of work and fiddling and you expect it to take days to play.

this is a cool idea

you could limit it to 3 or 10 or whatever missions per SG.

That way SG's could have their own missions - and could rotate them if they wish.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
there is a quote from Gogol "if there is a gun hanging on the wall in act 1 it should go off in act 3". I disagree with the statement - but the wholeheartedly believe the reverse. If a gun goes off in act 3 - it should be shown in Act 1.

This applies to many details in mission arcs - but especially to bosses. If you create an AV at the end of your arc and the first time I've heard of him is when I see him at the end or in the nav, I won't care much about him.

If the arc is to defeat Mr. Big - make sure he is a "presence" throughout the arc.

Have the intro text to other missions mention that Mr. Big is behind it.
Have bosses in other missions say "Mr. Big wants you stopped" or "Once I defeat you, I will be powerful enough to take on Mr. Big".
Have minions say "We'd better pull this off or Mr. Big will rip our arms off."
Have rescued people say "They were taking me to Mr. Big, he might burn me with his flames"

By the time a player reaches Mr. Big they should have heard his name a dozen times, know that he is really tough and scary - and have some clue as to what his powers are.

[/ QUOTE ]
Although I almost agree with your post, it depends if the antagonist in the arc is pretty straight forward. If the arc in itself is based on a mystery, keeping subtle hints works best.
If you've ever done the Lady Grey TF, you'll know what I mean.

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true - but the same rule in general applies to a mystery. To be fair the villain has to have already appeared.

If you get to the end of the mystery and you've never heard of the villain at the end it wasn't a fair mystery. The villain has to have been mentioned or appeared.

The standard (and this applies to the Mentalist, almost every Agatha Christie, etc) is that the villain is the one who is not a suspect and has been semi-helpful to the hero.

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Just for the record, the literary technique is called Chekhov's gun, from Anton Chekhov.


[/ QUOTE ]

Thank's, I get those two confused.

On Triumph I see more tf's starting up now then before. On smaller servers there are just a lot more people playing so it is easier to find a team.

I play MA, I've been soloing - because I've been reviewing arcs for people. There are a lot of people trying to make stories not farms - I am one of them.

I agree you can over do it. If every minion and every person mentions him - it would be bad. That's why I don't agree with Gogol. Every detail can't be important. You need to have enough details to feel normal - and then you can add in "important" details like mentioning the boss's name.

For instance I might have 6 hostages to rescue - one of them would mention the boss.

But going through missions I find that they don't get mentioned at all.

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AE System
--------
Welcome to Architect Entertainment -- Neutral
Death for Dollars! -- Neutral
Bare Knuckles of Rage (9304)
Signal to Noise -- Neutral -- 67277
*

Allegory
---------
Who is Kidnapping the World's Great Philosophers? -- Neutral -- 86347
*

Character/Supergroup Origins
--------
Birth of a Fossil -- Heroic
Secret Origins(Tech) The Snake Women of Epsilon V (42221) - Heroic
Noah Reborn -- Heroic (2370)
Polar Emergence Neutral Government User Interface Network (PENGUIN) #29205 - Heroic
Jumping in Feet First - Heroic - 1345
Midnight Bells Toll ----Villanious
A Hero is made, Not Born. -- Heroic -- Arc# 20863
A Mother's Nightmare -- Heroic -- #6955
*

Classic Super-Hero/Super-Villain
--------
THE BOMBER --- Heroic --- Arc 16607
In The Shadow of Statesman --Neutral--1160
A Show to Die For! --- Heroic --- 30645
Check... and Mate #15095 - Heroic - Mini Task Force
Teen Phalanx Forever! -- Heroic (67335)
This Life Immortal - (5756) Heroic
Paradox Paradox - (69221) Heroic Stop yourself and Stellar from being erased!
Sidekicks Can Be A Pain In The Cape - (28430)
'Tis Nobler in the Mind - Heroic
*

Comedy
--------
The Extadine Lab -- Heroic (2595)
MacGuffin Delivery Service (1567) -- Villainous
ParaCon -- Heroic (1684)
The new and improved Lord Recluse Strike Force -- Villainous (though I wouldn't recommend against a hero )
The Fire Bunnies - Neutral, They are only bunnies after all...
You Say It's Your Birthday! (3630) - Neutral
Trademark Infringement -- Heroic (2220)
Hail to the King Neutral (34640)
Walk On the Wild Side - Neutral - 3580
Shirley You Jest (25474) -- Neutral
The Invasion of the Bikini Clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space! - Heroic - 61013
Gnomish Madness (30204) - Heroic
Doctor Nadir and the Hellion Heist (49661) - Heroic
Laugh? I Thought I'd DIE! - Heroic
The P.U.G. Strike force (arc 35585) -Villian
A Translator is the Wind or the Thunder in Turns -- (2936) - Heroic
What's in a Name? - Villainous
None More Black, Dude! (#86312) Neutral
Rise of the Drakule - Neutral
Return of the Revenge of the Son of Drakule Part 2: First Blood - Neutral
Martian Chimpanzees and the Cyborg Cheerleaders of DOOM! (Arc #69947) - Heroic
Daytime Divas - #94504 Where else can you get a hair extension as a souvenir?
Death to Disco! - (Neutral, 84420) A short arc that has time travel, silk shirts, platform shoes, Jimmy Carter and a chance to save Rock and Roll.
*

Comedy/Drama
--------
Fashion Apocalypse - Neutral - 14840
The Running of the Bulls -- Heroic 29973
A Super Team is Born -- Heroic
Cause of How Some Silly Stealed My Wings #1481 -- Neutral
How to Survive a Robot Uprising -- Heroic (12669)
Dr. Duplicate's Dastardly Dare -- Neutral
It's a Nice Day for a White Wedding (9059) -- Neutral
TURG FICTION: Ghost in the Machine, Act I - Heroic (althoughs romantic villains could try this too )
Rum Runners of Bloody Bay (3691) - Heroic
Have a Blap, Blap, Blappy Day Kids! (2019)
The Toypocalypse! (49280) - Heroic
Fishing for Fame with Red Herring - Heroic (66861)
Putting Out Fires: A Corporate Satire (20100) - Villainous
The Rise and Refall of Pets'n'Things.com - Heroic - 1061
The Cat's in the Cradle (8776) - Villainous
*

Crime/Gangs
--------
Bricked Electronics -- Heroic (LIVE! 2180)
The Bravuran Jobs -- Villainous (16809)
The Black Flag Is On The Rise (Pirates!) - Villainous
The Monstrous Regiment of Lesbian Hellions -- Heroic (27178)
Win the 2009 Freak-Lympics (2150) - Villainous
Ninja Crimewave! (2142) - Heroic
Whitehawks (Arc 49364) -- Heroic
The Internet is for Crime (53385) - Villains
Plastic Pistol Peril (1135) - Heroic
Friends in Need (Of Body Parts) - Villainous (31005)
A Little RnR - Heroic (17523) click for Promotional Poster
Mechanical Mayhem - Villainous (76721)
*

Drama
--------
The Conciliators: Simone -- Heroic (4010)
The Fan Club -- Heroic
Matchstick Women -- Heroic -- 3369
Of Mentors and Legacy - Heroic - 1589
Digital Love -- Neutral -- 3571
*

Global Domination
--------
Axis and Allies -- Villainous (1379)
*

Heist
--------
Celebrity Kidnapping -- Villainous (1388)
Easy Money -- Villainous (31490)
The Great Diamond Heist -- Villainous (96169)
*

Historical (Realistic)
--------
Wrinkle in Time -- Heroic(68920)
*

Historical (CoH Lore)
--------
The War on Superadine - The Regulators in their 1980's drug war (Heroic) (Arc 7959)
Origins - Volume 1 (57077) -- Heroic
The Once and Future King (#71601) - Heroic
*

Holiday
--------
City of Ho Ho Ho #18775 - Heroic
Hectic Holidays -- Heroic (36999) also comedy
Santa's Missing List - 34961
*

Horror
--------
Astoria in D Minor (41565) -- Heroic
Dark Dreams (3615)
D!E COUNT DADDY MACULA D!E! (10619) -- Heroic (1970's Action/Horror)
Don't Play With The Dead (31813) -- Neutral
The Amulet of J'gara (1709) -- Heroic
Project: Perilous - Into the Chthonian Pit (#3586) - Neutral (Unless you happen to be a mad cultist, in which case, go nuts!)
Small Fears -- Heroic
Lights, Camera, Scream! (#68627) - 3 Mission arc that get's you into the B-Horror film circuit.
Duality --Heroic -- 84105
Hunting the Hunters --Villainous -- 93362 - Help a vampire find out who is hunting his people
Creepy Crawlers - Arc ID: 82553 (Lv 41 - 52, a short, solo-friendly ghost story. Best played alone.)
I Will Dance On Your Grave - Arc ID 92630 – Any level, no EBs or AVs, Voodoo, Necromancy
*
Large-Scale Crisis
--------
Alpha and Omega (100400) -- Heroic
Is it Live or is it Memory-X - Arc ID #70210 - Heroic
This Is War, Part I - the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz -- Neutral
Win the Past, Own the Future - Heroic
A Warrior's Friend - Heroic
The Clockwork War -- Heroic (18672)
Flight of the Valkyries - Precursor (20272) -- Neutral
The Human Hive (#1632) - Neutral
War of the Worlds - The Anakim Invasion - Part 1, Neutral (15006)
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat....ue#Post13304513
War of the Worlds - The Anakim Invasion - Part 2, The Terran Revolt, Neutral (46711)
url=http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=13304455&an=0&am p;page=0#Post13304455
Bleed the Freak - Arc ID #6919 - Heroic
*

Magic
--------
The Magical Miss Fitz (5079) -- Heroic
Chains of Blood (5492) -- Heroic
A Deal with Destiny -- Heroic
The Broken Chain (82378) -- heroic
Croatoa's Great War: The Parfait Family Reunion -- Neutral -- 71880
Rex is Missing! - Heroic - 51702
The Tannhäuser Gate (Arc 96322)
I Will Dance On Your Grave - Arc ID 92630 – Any level, no EBs or AVs, Voodoo, Necromancy
*

Military
--------
Redoubt Operations #1: Fires over Kalago -- Heroic
Red Storm Rising (Arc 4912) -- Heroic
Whitehawks (Arc 49364) -- Heroic
Axis and Allies -- Villainous (1379)
Vanguard AQUA (58475) -- Neutral
Wings of Deception, 101926
*

Misc. Adventure
--------
The Portal Bandits (3326) -- Heroic
A Glitch in the Wyre- Arc 73197-- Neutral (Fun for both the good kids and the bad kids too!)
The Council Cargo - Arc ID: 36951 (Heroic, Lv 26 - 31, solo or team)


Mystery
--------
Blowback (18575) -- Heroic
Dream Paper -- Heroic (13030)
Dream Paper 2: Restless Sleep -- Heroic (16797)
Dream Paper 3: Broken Dreams -- Heroic (13064)
*

Mythology
--------
Atlantis Attacks! -- Neutral (30898) -- Click for Promotional Poster
The Seelie War -- Heroic
The Unseelie War -- Villainous
Tales of Cimerora, volume 1 : Of feathers and fur -- Heroic
The Aegis Affair - Heroic - ****
Witches and Warriors (53006)- Heroic
Rites of the Maenads (61159) - Heroic
The Parable of the Fruit Salad -- Heroic -- 65369
The Eye of Balor (88176) - Heroic
Madness And The Minotaur - Neutral - 90124
*

Nemesis Plots
--------
Brass Reaver: Part 1 -- Neutral
The Handbag Plot -- Heroicish -- 36414
*

Player-Chosen Outcome
--------
Hunting the Dark Dragon -- Heroic
Playing Gods -- Heroic (51106)
*

Sci-Fi
--------
Above Mars - Part 1: The Wellington -- Neutral (13215)
Adventures of the Space Marines -- Neutral
Adventures of the Space Marines 2 -- Neutral
The Adventures of the United Earth Rangers -- Neutral (29549)
The Continuing Adventures of the United Earth Rangers -- Neutral (70237)
The Final Nemesis
The Knights of Rularuu -- Heroic (75386)
[color= #bbff88]Reach for the Stars -- Neutral (78904) [/color]
Spaced Invaders --Heroic(56856)
That Mysterious Buzzing Sound - 12774
The Balance of Power - 26931 - Neutral
welcome to donut world - 1233 heroic
*

Un-themed Survival/AV/Time Challenges
--------
The Meatgrinder -- Neutral
*

Puzzles/Riddles
--------
Grim Riddles (#1396) - Heroic

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[/ QUOTE ]

there is a quote from Gogol "if there is a gun hanging on the wall in act 1 it should go off in act 3". I disagree with the statement - but the wholeheartedly believe the reverse. If a gun goes off in act 3 - it should be shown in Act 1.

This applies to many details in mission arcs - but especially to bosses. If you create an AV at the end of your arc and the first time I've heard of him is when I see him at the end or in the nav, I won't care much about him.

If the arc is to defeat Mr. Big - make sure he is a "presence" throughout the arc.

Have the intro text to other missions mention that Mr. Big is behind it.
Have bosses in other missions say "Mr. Big wants you stopped" or "Once I defeat you, I will be powerful enough to take on Mr. Big".
Have minions say "We'd better pull this off or Mr. Big will rip our arms off."
Have rescued people say "They were taking me to Mr. Big, he might burn me with his flames"

By the time a player reaches Mr. Big they should have heard his name a dozen times, know that he is really tough and scary - and have some clue as to what his powers are.