cranebump

Absolutely true. But I think it can also be true that the new arcs are overwritten. Watkins felt like that to me. You get sent on an overmap glowie run that I’m not certain added much value. It felt like a good part of that mish was testing different story mechanics. It was still better than a lot of the older arcs, though. No contest. (But it wasn’t better than Laura Lockhart, Bane Spider Ruben or Stockwell/Eagle Eye, imho).

On the plus side you can give your enemies storm blast. (Look! A new widget!):-)

Well, of course it would be better. But wishes and horses and if’s and buts and all that. This is the “budget” we have.

I thought the info dump on the previous Watkins arc was a bit much, as well. But you could skip through it if you wanted, and the arc was fun overall. I also thought the s rioters were trying to give us something different, and a bit more complicated, for which I applaud them. That said, I never considered how things might run on a team. Without cut scenes, teams are generally left out on all arcs. Unless you run all in voice, they’re just not going to get much of that detail. And I think that maybe (maybe) it’s to most people’s taste to just run the mishes and pound some enemies. Which means arcs with depth and detail are probably meant to appeal to the solo experience. Not saying this is either good or bad. It’s just what this game gives us, as it currently is. I’ll have to run the new stuff to actually render a worthwhile opinion. And I already have questions about the tilt toward the grey alignments (though we DO have plenty of love for heroes and vills elsewhere). But new content is new content. I’ll always support that over another powerset.

Well, there's Snakes, Legacy Chain, Wyvern, Scrapyarders, Coralax, Slag Golems, Luddites, and Wailers, to name a few. Longbow is certainly more present than one would think they'd be (though, if you're a villain, these are the guys trying tp stop you). As for Arachnos, I don't think we can really get around this group, it being, you know, sorta Lord Recluse's private country and all that.:-)

Running solo back in the day, just hitting L10 or 12 or some such. I hop out of SC South Tram, hang a left, head toward University (for reasons I can't recall). Run into an Outcast mob that has a Brick in it. I get KB'ed up and into the adajcent building. Toon ends up with just his legs sticking out the side of a wall (maybe through a window, but I can't recall that clearly). Had to stop and admire that for sec (and lament the fact I wasn't on a team for others to see it).:-)

Dragon's Tail and Eagle's Claw, I believe. And that's a good rec. Base MA is super "kicky," though you can choose some "fisty" animations instead, iirc.

Brute will give you a good balance of damage/defense. If you want to wade in and smack stuff, that's a good way to go. That said, nothing beats a blaster for taking down stuff from afar. You can get a good mix of ranged/Defense with a Sentinel, but you'd have to run some toggles likely. I've enjoyed (insert primary ranged damage set here)/Regen Sentinels a lot, since they mitigate endurance problems. If you intend to solo, might want to consider an Energy/Regen blaster. The knockback will keep foes off you. Once in game, I suggest playing the Outbreak Tutorial, since it will walk you through power uses, inspirations, and basic mission mechanics. Then play the story contacts, either Habashy, and/or the origin contacts. These missions will feature straightforward objectives and small maps. You might want to do Twinshot in Atlas, since this is a tutorial arc that has some interesting (if not obnoxious) characters.

My hate is well-developed, Zhym. I can embrace them both.:-)

Hey. Speak for yourself, I still hate that bastard.:-)

True. But the game itself is just stuck at that point in time. Even if additional stories eventually resolved the issue, if it begins in the same era, then those particular conditions represent the era's zeitgeist. You'd have to move the start point ahead to where the threat is lessened, or non-existent (even though we know there are people who are going to jump at phantoms anyway, regardless). And you're right - from a propaganda perspective, it's pretty tame, compared to real-life historical examples.

Good question, actually. But, having seen billboards with REALLY blatant messages on them propped up in certain places, I am thinking they'd be protected by the first amendment, if the entity buying the space is a private citizen or group. Which makes it seem like Vanguard really wouldn't be engaging in this sort of advertising (But would someone like Malta do so? Or maybe the Council, who ALWAYS seems to have tons of recruits?).

@SarahTheM1, I'll readily concede there's all sorts of anachronisms, etc. in the game/lore, which are readily apparent with even a cursory glance. That said, I think the presence of such only proves the canon timeline is messed up (and/or the presentation of it is). However, none of that negates the fact that the events are canon, because something in the narrative world led to them, even if they're not presented in proper sequence. That's my whole point - whether the narrative jibes with what's happening today is immaterial to what happens in the fiction, because the fiction is its own universe. Whether it makes me uncomfortable is immaterial, really. In fact, from a narrative perspective, it might be better than it does, since the last reaction I want to elicit with my story is apathy (which a completely sanitized campaign world would most certainly lead to). I'm neutral on the billboard issue, honestly, beyond merely stating that, if it's part of the campaign lore, that's enough justification to have it there. Beyond that, I would like to respond to a couple things here: If there's a narrative explanation that justifies its inclusion, that is absolutely all that's needed. Mentioning "obvious subtext" here is impugning the world builders by insinuating they have some other agenda than representing the denizens of the game world. Further, it would have been colossally stupid to try to intentionally alienate anybody in the real world back in the day, when people paid to play this game. Beyond that, I can't tell here if you're saying this particular "vibe" is due to people offering their argument, above, or the billboard itself. It really doesn't matter, as far as this particular situation goes. We're a small population, playing a dead game. And most fiction, in and of itself, doesn't matter all that much. A lot of it is bubble gum entertainment, and ours here is no exception. This isn't to say all fiction cannot make a true impact on society, but a billboard alluding to what seems to be a single story arc on Redside is small fish. A minnow, maybe. Like, a baby one...that you can't even see most of the time. It's really not worth the amount of time either of us has spent discussing it, honestly, because, as you so correctly noted: First statement: Sums it up. Second statement: Correct. And the reverse is true, as well. All I can do is go back to the fact that the billboard actually is based on in-game lore, granting it a narrative reason to exist, which, if you're storytelling is the only justification you need to include it. And... ...since it IS there, why can't we get an arc that explores the issue, and lets people who want to beat up on the group that bought the billboard if they want to?*:-) *Hmmmm...sounds like an idea for an AE story.

I am positive. I have some of my older missions where there’s a lot of dialogue popping. I think there’s less of it in the later missions. But part of it too I think is that you run our missions in stealth mode. So I am wondering if they’re not noticing you as quickly because of that?

All good. The fact you're even doing this is amazing.

Just pulled it up. It's all there - and not really a hint. Was there any follow-up on this?

It already came. It was dealt with. Mostly...* *(please see (PLAY! PLAYPLAYPLAY!) my AE Mobius arcs for details). {ahem...} Apologies. Here ends my:

Assuming you start a character from level 1, your journey occurs right after an alien invasion (or WITH it, if you do the GC tutorial). This is perpetual with every toon you start (assuming you run anything associated with the story). The billboard reflects what is happening during that time, and seems pretty logical, from a narrative perspective. Beyond that, I'm not sure what the issues are with it, since this is a fictional world.

Welcome to the club. This is but one pain in the ass you'll be dealing with (and I mean the issue, not me).:-) Dialogue pops are just not something you can fix, but they can be worked with, to a degree. One of those is by placing additional obj's on higher floors (on maps that have vators). The other is to set fewer simultaneous objectives to spawn. In all honesty, though, issues like this will ultimately make you a better story teller, since you'll have to winnow things down you what you really need to tell the story. The textual element involves synergy between the contact screens, in-mish clues, pop-ups, and NPC dialogue. Treat them all as pieces of the puzzle.

So it’s on red side. Hm. I’ll have to check the wiki.

In general, I like the Content on the red side much better than blue side, but some of that is due to less familiarity with red side. I agree with the issue involving having to run paper missions and banks. Although, when I think about it, hitting a bank would seem to be a bad guy thing to do. It’s been a long while since I dedicated myself to running a character all the way up from one to 50 over there. Maybe I will make that my next goal. I echo the idea that starting read and then converting to rogue or vigilante seems more organic when you start villain. To address the questions put forth in the thread, I would say I spend probably less than one percent running anything red, and that is usually when someone has a task force. I do enjoy the atmosphere. Even just navigating the various areas seems more interesting than running around in paragon city.

Yep. Give us that, plus the ability to link maps within missions, and there's suddenly a lot of drama we can create. I don't know if I mentioned this, but just being able to permanently place objectives would solve most of my time sucking aspects of mission prep.

My main is an vigilante AR/TA Blaster. You bet your ass I'm digging the wider arc. I'm shooting things I can't even see, man.:-)

This is the part I'm most curious about. I know Nem has his simulacrums, but the Rikti? Where are these "aliens among us?" Is there a story arc that covers this angle? We have the Lost being transformed into Rikti, but is this who they're referring to? I feel consistency with the Lore ought to be standard for something like this. If it alludes to lore, then we have an in game explanation for it. I'm guessing here is one for the billboard, though I don't know what it is for sure. As for how offensive it may be, I find it rather tame. Among other things, Paragon City has pseudo-Nazis, occultists and demon-worshippers. We have the Malta Group. For all I know, they're the ones who paid for the billboards. (though I think it has to be a nemesis plot)