suedenim

The more I work with custom groups, the more I think they need, in addition to Standard, Hard, and Extreme, a "Substandard" rating!

Most of the weapon-based sets seem pretty tough, which is annoying from a story perspective, since in a City of Heroes and Villains, someone carrying a baseball bat or a shovel should be shorthand for "NOT a super."

What about this lineup? I already toned them down a bit, taking away various experiments with Inv, SR, and Willpower secondaries. Regen purposely chosen for minions for its uselessness.

Blackhorse Auxiliaries - these are supposed to be the "support" gals for Ashley Porter's Blackhawk-esque squadron:

Minions:
Blackhorse Commando - Auto Rifle/Regen
Blackhorse Mechanic - War Mace (Pipe Wrench)/Regen

Lt:
Blackhorse Officer - Auto Rifle/? (tried Regen and Willpower)

All Std/Std now.

The Blackhorse Mechanics are supposed to be "ground crew hastily summoned to duty," but the War Mace seems inherently nasty, making them the real dangerous people. I really don't want to lose the pipe wrench, though, because it looks perfect!

I was really surprised at the trouble these gals were giving my 27th level Claws/Regen scrapper. I'm not sure if the opposition is too tough, or whether I and/or my character suck, or what....

I've just run into some problems like this on the outdoor Malta/Warburg map (basically a small "docks" map.

My mission has 5 bosses, who spawn in sequence.

The first time I tried it, I had two bosses spawn at mission start, one of whose defeat would trigger another two, then one of whom would trigger the final boss. In this circumstance, the first two spawned properly, but no more appeared.

The second go, I tried just making them purely sequential, one and only one at a time. This time, the boss didn't spawn at all.

Are there problems with this particular map, perhaps? It is awfully small, which is perfect for my needs, but I can see how it might cause problems the MA system.

I'm not sure precisely HOW he did it, but one of the missions in this arc achieves that effect pretty darn well.

Loved it! I played this solo as Ashley Porter, Archery/Devices Blaster with excellent stealth. The difficulty level was very appropriate - extremely tough when the situation called for it, crazy and chaotic when that was called for, and an easy "stealth assassination mission" when that was called for. The flying aliens add a lot, somewhat to my surprise (didn't expect them to actually fly so much.)

One strange buggish problem almost made me stop, until I puzzled it through.

Escorting the civilian - for some reason, I'd keep going up to him, but he wouldn't follow, would just get mad when I got out of range. Wouldn't move at all.

Eventually, I figured out that my own stealth was preventing him from following. Kind of annoying, because I have stealth in both Cloaking Device and an enhancement in Combat Jumping, and I'd have to wait around for the CJ stealth to wear off before I could escort again.

Is this normal CoH escort behavior? I can't recall ever seeing that happen before, and I almost always have stealth on with Ashley. Maybe it only happens with pure "civilian" escorts? Though I'm pretty sure I've done that a lot too. I know Fusionette and the like have never had difficulty with my stealth.

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
*
A Rose's Thorns -- Heroic -- 113224


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
Deadly Sins! - 99366: fairly tough arc, can be solo'd.
*


Comedy
--------
The String Thief, Arc ID: 15726 Neutral 1-54
Mean People, Arc ID:16690 Neutral 1-54
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.
Too Many Bunnygirls! - ID#101165(neutral). Time to stop them once and for all.
Invasion on Earth BX1132! - Neutral - 45+ - #98943
*
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
Females for Hire - Neutral (Heroic and/or Mercenary motivations) (110723)
*

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)
Females for Hire (about a mercenary gang) - Neutral (Heroic and/or Mercenary motivations) (110723)
*

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
Movie Monster Madness.. - 102058
Something Comes to Yarmouth(58812) - Heroic, levels 25+ (masearch link)
*
The Zombie Apocalypse Task Force: Something wicked this way comes.


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)
Hunter of Beasts: It begins with a riot... Arc ID: 110465 - Heroic
Females for Hire - Neutral (Heroic and/or Mercenary motivations) (110723)
*

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 - **** - 16376
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

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

Oranbega hate I don't really understand. I can understand portal hate - there's often a maze of portals on larger Oranbega maps that get really confusing. But the tileset itself looks great, IMO, and there are a lot of smaller Oranbega maps that don't have the portal maze problem. Other than that, large Oranbega maps have the same problem that all large maps have. No reason to call out Oranbega specifically, unless there's something I'm missing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Generally speaking, I think what people hate are certain *kinds* of missions on Oranbega maps. There are at least two "standard" Thorns missions that are practically design to engender Oranbega Hate. One's a "Defeat all enemies," the other has a ridiculous number of glowies (like 15 or something?) Don't do that.

How well or poorly do Ally characters with Tanker-type powers hold aggro? My testing suggests "not very well," which makes me think they lack the PC-Tanker inherent aggro management abilities.

Which I suppose would be a good thing, as otherwise it'd make things too easy for players. But in general, how much should one expect an ally to "take the heat off" of a player?

What exactly is the difference, if any, between a character created as an AV, but "scaled down" to EB level, and a character created as an EB?

I interpreted the conditions as the 2nd mission in an arc being the "sequel" to the 1st mission.... But if that's wrong, disregard:

Arc Name: Females for Hire
Arc ID: 110723
Faction: Either
Creator Global/Forum Name: suedenim
Difficulty Level: Medium
Synopsis:
What you see is what you get... with Females for Hire!

Meet Paragon City's fastest-growing all-girl, all-stereotype mercenary group. Studies have shown that over 95% of all mercenary hiring managers are men... so Females for Hire consciously plays to male stereotypes of "action girl" operatives, while maintaining top-notch professionalism.

You're playing with fire... with Females for Hire! From Independent International Pictures. Rated PG.
Estimated Time to Play: 3 missions, relatively short.

Fun new custom group, a bit of mystery, a bit of humor. Very loosely inspired by this wonderfully cheesy radio ad for a '70s B-Movie.

I'm curious how a solo Controller type will fare, as I don't have any high-ish level characters of my own to test with....

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Females for Hire! #106098
Faction: Either
Creator Global/Forum Name: @suedenim
Difficulty Level: Medium (I think)
Genre: Action/Mystery/Low-key comedy
Estimated Time to Play: Short (1 mission, Medium Office Map)

Description:
What you see is what you get... with Females for Hire!

Meet Paragon City's fastest-growing all-girl, all-stereotype mercenary group. Studies have shown that over 95% of all mercenary hiring managers are men... so Females for Hire consciously plays to male stereotypes of "action girl" operatives, while maintaining top-notch professionalism.


[/ QUOTE ]

I tried out your arc. Quick, easy (of course, with just one mish), and I found it enjoyable. But I thought it had potential to be more -- at least 3 missions. Or perhaps spawn a sequel? I rated it 3 stars.

The idea behind the actual story is actually pretty intriguing. Since I don't listen to Don & Mike (I prefer Opie and Anthony), I'm not sure to what extent the the security agency idea was yours, but it's a concept that can definitely be expanded upon. If you can add more story to it, I would highly recommend republishing it a couple extra missions throw in.


[/ QUOTE ]

There's actually no relationship with the movie beyond the title and the cheesy taglines. There's definitely potential for sequels, as I think the Females for Hire make a pretty good adversary group.

[/ QUOTE ]

For anyone who might be interested, I did indeed end up turning this into a 3-mission arc. The new number is 110723.

[ QUOTE ]
Loved Matchstick Women, great choices all around there.

Here's a short (one-mission) arc from me:

Arc Name: Females for Hire
Arc ID: 106098
Faction: Either
Creator Global/Forum Name: suedenim
Difficulty Level: Medium/Low
Synopsis:
What you see is what you get... with Females for Hire!

Meet Paragon City's fastest-growing all-girl, all-stereotype mercenary group. Studies have shown that over 95% of all mercenary hiring managers are men... so Females for Hire consciously plays to male stereotypes of "action girl" operatives, while maintaining top-notch professionalism.

You're playing with fire... with Females for Hire! From Independent International Pictures. Rated PG.
Estimated Time to Play: Short, single mission.

Fun new custom group, a bit of mystery, a bit of humor. Very loosely inspired by this wonderfully cheesy radio ad for a '70s B-Movie.

You also might check out (both 1-mission):
93431: The Big Roundup: Facing off against a Wild West supervillain group, The Rustlers.
97404: Secret Identity Experiment: Purposely very short and very easy (tried specifically to make the opposition as weak as possible), mainly to try out what I think is a fairly funny little storytelling trick. Hopefully amusing.

[/ QUOTE ]

After a burst of inspiration, I turned this into a 3-mission arc, number 110723.

Loved Matchstick Women, great choices all around there.

Here's a short (one-mission) arc from me:

Arc Name: Females for Hire
Arc ID: 106098
Faction: Either
Creator Global/Forum Name: suedenim
Difficulty Level: Medium/Low
Synopsis:
What you see is what you get... with Females for Hire!

Meet Paragon City's fastest-growing all-girl, all-stereotype mercenary group. Studies have shown that over 95% of all mercenary hiring managers are men... so Females for Hire consciously plays to male stereotypes of "action girl" operatives, while maintaining top-notch professionalism.

You're playing with fire... with Females for Hire! From Independent International Pictures. Rated PG.
Estimated Time to Play: Short, single mission.

Fun new custom group, a bit of mystery, a bit of humor. Very loosely inspired by this wonderfully cheesy radio ad for a '70s B-Movie.

You also might check out (both 1-mission):
93431: The Big Roundup: Facing off against a Wild West supervillain group, The Rustlers.
97404: Secret Identity Experiment: Purposely very short and very easy (tried specifically to make the opposition as weak as possible), mainly to try out what I think is a fairly funny little storytelling trick. Hopefully amusing.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Bear in mind that an essential part of humor is usually the incongruity of something unexpected happening in a situation where you wouldn't expect it.
*
For instance (to use a superhero example), Clark Kent entering a phone booth and changing into Superman isn't funny. But Christopher Reeve looking for a phone booth and finding only a modern-style "boothless" phone? Funny!

[/ QUOTE ]
You said 'Christopher Reeve' and that already marked, in my mind, any jokes you were going to make as bad-taste, therefore, for me, not funny.

[/ QUOTE ]

In that case, I wasn't making a joke, but actually referring to this gag from Reeve's first Superman movie:
http://z.hubpages.com/u/714349_f260.jpg

[ QUOTE ]

Well, not all humor relies on unexpected situations. There's the joke at somebody elses expense. The whole "If I fall down a hole, it's tragedy, but if you fall down a whole, it's comedy" angle.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a different aspect, true, but falling down a hole in the first place is itself unexpected. (Someone walking around and intentionally jumping into holes would simply be peculiar, and neither tragic nor comic.)

Arc Name: Females for Hire
Arc ID: 110723 (formerly 106098)
Faction: Either
Creator Global/Forum Name: suedenim
Difficulty Level: Medium
Synopsis:
What you see is what you get... with Females for Hire!

Meet Paragon City's fastest-growing all-girl, all-stereotype mercenary group. Studies have shown that over 95% of all mercenary hiring managers are men... so Females for Hire consciously plays to male stereotypes of "action girl" operatives, while maintaining top-notch professionalism.

You're playing with fire... with Females for Hire! From Independent International Pictures. Rated PG.
Estimated Time to Play: 3 missions, relatively short.

Fun new custom group, a bit of mystery, a bit of humor. Very loosely inspired by this wonderfully cheesy radio ad for a '70s B-Movie.

[ QUOTE ]
One note on the humor bit is that so many people think they are funny but are so not. Humor is THE HARDEST genre to write by far, and people treat it as if it's as easy is making some silly-looking characters and writing some silly text with little or no thought toward plot, continuity, plausibility, or anything else that makes a good story a good story (humor or not).

It's much easier for a passable drama or action story to be written by a mediocre writer or at least one who puts in minimal effort. Humor takes much more finesse.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bear in mind that an essential part of humor is usually the incongruity of something unexpected happening in a situation where you wouldn't expect it.

For instance (to use a superhero example), Clark Kent entering a phone booth and changing into Superman isn't funny. But Christopher Reeve looking for a phone booth and finding only a modern-style "boothless" phone? Funny!

It's funny because we know the whole "standard" Superman/phone booth trope, and seeing it not "work" for Superman is unexpected.

Now, say, having a giant carrot doing dance moves with a boom box in the middle of a deadly battle between the Council and 5th Column? That's definitely unexpected, but it's more silly or absurd than actually funny, because there's no particular context for it.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Females for Hire! #106098
Faction: Either
Creator Global/Forum Name: @suedenim
Difficulty Level: Medium (I think)
Genre: Action/Mystery/Low-key comedy
Estimated Time to Play: Short (1 mission, Medium Office Map)

Description:
What you see is what you get... with Females for Hire!

Meet Paragon City's fastest-growing all-girl, all-stereotype mercenary group. Studies have shown that over 95% of all mercenary hiring managers are men... so Females for Hire consciously plays to male stereotypes of "action girl" operatives, while maintaining top-notch professionalism.


[/ QUOTE ]

I tried out your arc. Quick, easy (of course, with just one mish), and I found it enjoyable. But I thought it had potential to be more -- at least 3 missions. Or perhaps spawn a sequel? I rated it 3 stars.

The idea behind the actual story is actually pretty intriguing. Since I don't listen to Don & Mike (I prefer Opie and Anthony), I'm not sure to what extent the the security agency idea was yours, but it's a concept that can definitely be expanded upon. If you can add more story to it, I would highly recommend republishing it a couple extra missions throw in.


[/ QUOTE ]

There's actually no relationship with the movie beyond the title and the cheesy taglines. There's definitely potential for sequels, as I think the Females for Hire make a pretty good adversary group.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Mission:

"Invasion of the Samurai"
Arc ID: 93272
Length: Medium
Missions: 3
Genre: Foriegn; War
Level: 1-54

Brief Description: This is a fictional story how the Samurai are trying to take thier land back from the Japanese government. You are working for a General of the US Army to help crush the rebellion. In the first mission you find out that the Samurai are creating some weapon to help them win. You find out what it is and the rest is up to you to find out.

Currently it has 6 ratings and has 4 stars. I will be updating it periodically to fix spelling, grammar, and text.

[/ QUOTE ]

I edited my arc, extending it to 5 missions. So play time is about 20-30 minutes, maybe longer.

[/ QUOTE ]

I just played it, I think it was more like 45 minutes or so, but I wasn't keeping close track.

Anyway, I really liked it, and gave it 5 stars.

General comments:
- The text could use a proofreading pass or two. Nothing too serious. There are places where I would have phrased things differently, but it was never unclear. One particular spelling nitpick: it's "their," not "thier."
- Also text-related, but there were several references to the lead hero as "he" or "him." But Ashley's a girl.

More specific: I played with my lvl 47 Archery/Devices Blaster, Ashley Porter. Solo/Rugged(I think) on all missions. Ashley also has excellent stealth, and for the most part I tried to sneak around, usually only getting into trouble when I broke stealth somehow.

Mission 1: Found the opposition fairly easy to dispatch with Ashley's usual area-effect archery combo. The Boss wasn't too tough, and he ran from me at about 1/4 HP or so... which isn't good strategy against an archer out in open terrain. Love the Japanese text! Don't think I've ever seen that before, wasn't even aware of the possibility.

Mission 2: Reading the clue dropped my stealth, the resulting fight was a bit of a challenge. I ended up getting defeated by the boss when his guys attacked when I didn't expect it (and I didn't get a chance to lay down some caltrops and trip mines.) A bunch of allies in the area made it tougher. Returned to finish him off. Boss seems to have excellent defense - Ashley's not used to missing as much as she did here.

Mission 3: I ignored the warning to bring a friend. I thought I had the Elite Boss all set up (caltrops and mines again), and then... AMBUSH!!!! Very well-placed ambush, caused me a lot of trouble. Ended with something I've actually never seen before. I killed the EB, hit Exit Mission, at the same instant that he killed me. Woke up in hospital, but with Mission Completed! Oh, one potential problem here is that I could exit the mission without defeating the many attackers nearby. Not sure if that's fixable.

Mission 4: Finished this in literally 20 seconds or so. Found the clue, which triggered an ambush (heard them coming), but I just exited mission instead of sticking around for it. Nice map choice.

Mission 5: I ignored "bring a friend" advice again. This time, the Boss went down fairly easy, again in part because he decided to run and let me pepper him with arrows at range. When he DID get close, though, he was deadly - 1404.92 dmg from one Flashing Steel attack. Ashley can't take more than one of those! So that's good, keeping him at range was MANDATORY.

Found the PM after the Boss, wasn't a difficult rescue.

Now, my mission:
Inspired bythis wonderfully cheesy radio ad for a '70s B-Movie, a longtime running joke on the Don and Mike show, it's:

Females for Hire! #106098
Faction: Either
Creator Global/Forum Name: @suedenim
Difficulty Level: Medium (I think)
Genre: Action/Mystery/Low-key comedy
Estimated Time to Play: Short (1 mission, Medium Office Map)

Description:
What you see is what you get... with Females for Hire!

Meet Paragon City's fastest-growing all-girl, all-stereotype mercenary group. Studies have shown that over 95% of all mercenary hiring managers are men... so Females for Hire consciously plays to male stereotypes of "action girl" operatives, while maintaining top-notch professionalism.

You're playing with fire... with Females for Hire! From Independent International Pictures. Rated PG.

Nice guide!

One thing I'd like to clarify myself (and that'd be good to state outright in the guide): There isn't any way to copy text *from* the CoX interface, is there?

On the text itself, one thing I'd advise is *not* to have a big one-paragraph block of turgid prose. Oh, you might have follow-up detail, but lead off with something relatively short and snappy. There's a neat little article on the "mission statements" that sometimes were on the title pages of comics:
http://blog.newsarama.com/2006/07/12...on-statements/

I'm especially fond of the "Stan Lee Presents" blurbs that were standard on the Marvel Comics of my youth (circa 1975-1985?) A few examples:

[ QUOTE ]

A brilliant scientist — his best friend — the woman he loves — and her fiery-tempered kid brother! Together, they braved the unknown terrors of outer space, and were changed by cosmic rays into something more than merely human!

MR. FANTASTIC! THE THING! THE INVISIBLE GIRL! THE HUMAN TORCH! Now they are the FANTASTIC FOUR — and the world will never be the same again! Stan Lee presents... The Fantastic Four!


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

When multi-billionaire industrialist Tony stark, inventor extradordinaire, dons his solar-charged, steel-mesh armor, he becomes a high-tech warrior - the world's greatest human fighting machine! Stan Lee presents... Ihe Invincible Iron Man!


[/ QUOTE ]

They sum up the general premise, while being snappy and fun to read. Lead off with something like that, then fill out the rest of the ID with more detail if necessary.

My own Ashley Porter blurb:
Transported from the year 1879 by a Yellowstone Woodland Gorilla shaman's curse, the Old West's only female United States Marshal continues to fight for justice in a strange new world... a world where 125 years of fictionalized exploits in everything from dime novels to movies to video games has made her a beloved iconic American hero!

Suedenim presents... The Legendary Ashley Porter!

Incidentally, I've noticed this style blurb starting to appear a lot in DC comics these days. In every issue of the new The Brave and the Bold series, and a lot of other places.

Is there a "bind_load" involved in there someplace, Konoko?

What a neat little bind! I think I'll use that one!

Any ideas on slotting for the Devices powers, particularly with regard to IO sets? I notice, for example, that it's possible to slot Caltrops with a set like Pacing of the Turtle... but would it make sense to do so, or just be a waste of slots?

While the specific advice under "Buy Low, Sell High" is valid, there actually are lots of profitable "Buy Low, Sell to NPC" opportunities.

A large number of "vanilla" recipes and single-origin enhancements (in particular) can be bought for a fraction of the amount the NPC stores will pay. There are lots of arbitrage opportunities here.

I'm having fun with a 9th Level Archery/Devices hero now, after a long absence from the game.

I saw a couple other archery guides that were written for I7 or I8. Have there been any changes since then that are particularly relevant to this power set?

Americommando , Inv/SS Tanker on Liberty:
Practical action gear doesn't have to be unfashionable!
But sometimes circumstances demand something more in line with heroic customs.
Even the mightiest of heroes sometimes need help deep underwater, in a vacuum, or in highly toxic environments!

But when you go off duty, it's still a good thing that Icon has ample inventory in Tall sizes!