TerroirNoir

Hi @Erhnam. I've been keeping an updated list of all of Homecoming's Dev Choices. As you will see there's a few! Plus a selection of one-off seasonal AEs and some Hall of Fame story AEs (SFMA, which is a handy thing to search for when looking for story) that were grandfathered in, having existed in some form or other back on Live. There's a few authors I love for story, and they have other non Dev Choice arcs too, so searching their @ names will help you I think. @Darmian, @cranebump, @NyxiaSnow, @Take One, @Ankylosaur are just a few that I look for now when I'm searching. And that's not denigrating the REST of the choices! It's just that these ones so far deliver the goods AND have longer stories that I like to take my time over and think about. Happy levelling!

Despite being someone who encourages the use of the AE for player created story arcs and not farms I have to agree that a majority are...unpolished at best and not very good at worst. That said, you can pan for gold in there and you WILL find it. The Dev Choices themselves are on a scale in my opinion, ranging from "why isn't this actually in the game?" to "that was pretty good, I can see why it got picked". @Darmian and @Ankylosaur and @cranebump have arcs that could slot into the main game with little or no disruption to anything already there, and I think the main game would be better for it. I've played @Darmian's Praetorian arcs and if the contacts for those popped up while I was finishing out Neutropolis you'd never know these were player additions. Similarly with the other two, and a writer called @Take One, whose additions to the VEAT storyline would slot in perfectly. So, at the risk of annoying others, but that's not my intent at all, there are writers using the AE in the way it was originally intended to be used and doing it masterfully. I've kept an updated list of all of the Homecoming Dev Choices for a while now and though it's on a break I will update it again when it returns. I'm not a farmer. I'll be honest about that. I've tried it and had some fun blasting enemies, and made some inf along the way, but I play for story. Everybody has their own jam I suppose and if you enjoy farming then you enjoy farming, if you enjoy story content then you enjoy story content. And finally, and I really don't want to get anyone's feathers ruffled here, but a few times over this thread and others I've seen the statement that some people have played all the in game content and are bored by it, so now they farm. How is playing the same farm (or group of farms) over and over not equally as dull as having played all the content in the main game? I'm not actually having a go at people here I just find that answer weird. If you're farming to get inf or XP I get that and if you're farming because it's relaxing and it's maybe like a mobile game where you're clearing a level then I get that too. But doing it over and over because you finished the in game content? I don't understand that. Me, as you can tell, I'd be searching through the AE for new story the same way I channel hop on TV. What's this? Ok, not for me. Next. Oh, I like this one, did they make anything else. My take only. Here's that updated list of mine.

Ok, just checking. Seems we have a third category now, in between SFMAs and Farms, these!

How are these for story, @Uun?

Good to see you producing the goods, @cranebump! I'll get to this ASAP depending on RL and so on. Thanks for all you provide to the community here.

Well you would say that! Seriously, @Marshal_General, I recommend checking out the list, and from there take note of the authors' other works. @Jiro Ito above is a Dev Choice winner, and check out their other stuff in their signature or via their @handle in the AE. Some of the authors have a LOT of material. I'm looking at @cranebump, @Darmian and @Ankylosaur for instance. Three more Dev Choice winners. So yeah, the ones on the list I compiled, and then branch out! Despite being outnumbered by farms by a lot, there's plenty of great story AEs out there. Have fun finding them. Hell, do a few reviews and get others interested!

I'll be starting a longish review post on the forum soon (depending on RL obviously). I'm intending to play through Dark Deeds, Leviathan, All that Glitters and City of Dread, alternating between the four of them. It'll be my own cable channel of adventure. Any spoilers will be labelled as such and hidden.

I love SFMA arcs. Just started this and it was a hell of a lot of fun. I'll add it to my list of "Long stories", along with @Darmian's Dark Deeds saga, @cranebump's Leviathan and @Ankylosaur's Glitters mega-thing. I mention these three because they're my benchmark for great stuff and City of Dread is shaping up to be alongside them! Ok, on to Part 2! More excitement ahoy.

Finding Galaxy again through Ouro. Ok, it's not as shiny as present Atlas, but... I have a lot of love for Port Oakes. Just the entire grimy, gritty feel of the place.

Ok, this may be a bit cheeky of me, but @GM Sparky and the gang, is is possible for these 32 to be rotated up and down the list, rather than players just doing what they always do and play the very first one and ignore the rest? That's not saying the first one is bad or anything, I would ask this no matter what one was on top.

Ah, @cranebump beat me to it. Exactly what they said. And their stuff is top notch for story by the way. Overall? Most of them are solo-able. It does depend on AT. A few have giant monsters in them, but those are (as far as I remember anyway) optional. AE giant monsters don't drop Reward Merits though. They did at one point but that was removed to stop exploits. They vary from individual, quirky stories of heroes and villains and praetorians, to what-ifs to tightly woven canon based stories that could easily just belong to the main game, to just out there oddness. They're not all going to be to your individual taste, but then what is? Anyway. Enjoy!

Ok folks, the GMs are working the little socks off at building a new metric for these, in the meantime rather than the usual three (ONLY THREE!) we get per month, it seems all of the above mentioned Dev Choices (not the seasonal and 'grandfathered' ones I'm afraid) give full XP and so on. So get in there and try them out. The first 32 listed Arcs in the AE are currently ALL Dev Choices again...or you can just go through the list above and see what you like! There's some talented people on that list. Give them some appreciation.

Lot of opinions flying. (ducks!)

Keep checking out the full list for great stories and remember each current month's Dev Choices grants full XP.

Updated to add the March 2022 winners. Check them out, and as always check the rest of the list for previous winners to sample all the fun. Congrats as usual!

February winners added to the list! Peruse them all and have fun, I know I did!

Wow. Looks great!

Oh I love Gold for its range of plots and weirdness.

Updated for January 2021. Get into the AE and try them all, folks!

Finished when?

If they ever get around to having Firemullet as actual NPCs somewhere in game (I think someone proposed PDP be refit as a rock club or something) then Heraclea should be one of the band!

Neutropolis is Gold too.

Updated and a happy new year to all.

I don't think so @Clave Dark 5. I'll be adding it ASAP when they do, or when I get back from holiday break anyway!

Going to get to the rest of yours! Just busy right now!