cranebump

Yeah, the rewards issue is a thing, right off the bat. Which really does necessitate moving the better content into the universe. I imagine that's a pretty big job, though. Wonder if that could be done by attaching the content to an in-game contact who "forwards" the mission to you. EXAMPLE: CONTACT: $name! We would use your help in (insert zone here)! Then maybe a mission list, appropriate to level. Or maybe the Dev's Choice stuff gets added to the mission computer? Not sure what it takes to get stuff to pop at an actual mish door. I assume the scripts for actual contact and AE content are different enough that this isn't easy and/or a snap. So, time and effort. And, really, a perceived need for the whole thing. One the one hand, it's free content. On the other side, well, how much content isn't getting run as it is?

Well, I know one thing we were s'posed to see was being able to use the test effect you get in some missions -- text appearing on the screen like "It's an ambush!" or "Ratskeller, this is Positron. Have you found the device?" or "Hurry! Winter is coming!":-) The rest I can't recall specifically. I just remember thinking, "That wound cool." @Darmian can probably tell you more. I'm wondering if Anky might know, as well.

Woo...wrong book...:-)

That stuff is somethin'. I got ONE of them from a L10 arc. Stuck it on the market just 'cuz. 30 Million. WHAT?

Thought I put this in its own space, since it's like WAAAAAY down at the bottom of Josh Jones's personal voyage through AE. (plus I can use other toons for UtRR...and not get my ass kicked [maybe]). Dude in background is like: Where he been? I dunno where he been. Other guy's like: .......(man, when's lunch?).... Lady in fronta Josh=Get. Off. The. Counter. Gonna take her advice. I mean, s'been about a year or somethin. So, what we got, what we got? Evidently, a gun and an entourage (okay, I'M sorry - a WEAPON [I know some a' you's prior service, yo...or you watched Full Metal Parka...or somethin'...) What to do, what to do? Okay, L11. Gonna search SFMA, my level. Well, hot damn. Why not, bruh? *First off, kudos for being the first (and perhaps only) arc to include the phrase "Lickable Science." I used to teach 4th graders. They're all Ph.D's on that, man. So, contact Catbird sez, KIDNAPPING! And I say YO! And off we go. Who cares if the verbiage says EXTREME WHATCHAMAHOOIE WITH LOTS OF BAD MOJONESS? Or who cares if send off text says this?: I assure you, Josh does not adjust (um...right?) P.S. Going into mish, I have exactly one Insp, and it's this color. Know what I like about these guys? They just stand there and let me shoot them. They're like, "You not tank. Ugh! Not movin'!" First glowie text=Making friends with the dog. Since I am clicking a crate, thought, I figure Fido must belong to Schrodinger (hey...he MIGHT have a backup pet...). But it's not, as it turns out that SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERNEVERMINDJUSTNOTPUTTINGITDOWN (but seriously, this dog is part of the reveal at the end, so...woof...and stuff). First room INSP count: 5 (3 of them? (sigh) blue) Few more rooms. Knocking out Clocks. KB -- the squishy soloist's BFF. Okay, so Doc FL may be tough. But I got myself an ace in the pit: All about timing, bronnaise. Oh, and uh... Um...she's gonna help (eyes front, man...eyes front!) So, Ms. Science isn't going to Comic Con. Excellent. Follow me, sandals. UPDATE: Insp count as of now. 10 regular... And one super insp: Pummel more clocks. Then I ping L12 in the boss room, race ahead of L.S. to get to FL man (and let's be fair, her name's Kelsey - and this wasn't HER choice of garb-find her lab coat is a mish objective...{that I kinda want to fail?}) Anyhoo, all LEVEL-INSPED up and... "Tough Opponent" goes under the heading of propaganda (or typical marketing) BUT: Turns out this is a transformer mission. More than meets the eye, my friend. THA END: So, long story short, I get Kelsey's lab coat back (yea, that Lickable thing was a...a...hell, I dunno what that was). Florida guy had a REALLY good reason for his hijinx (like possibly being high as well as drunk). The moral of the story? Choose your friends, wisely (and don't knock guns, man. guns are guns). Verdict: 4/5 I'd say, due to the only thing under Tweaks (below) Strengths: *Nice customs. Like, really. Mixed in with the clocks, so not overdone. And I liked the costumes (um...some more than others). *No typos. Easy to find spawns. *Nice clue progression. Gives hints, then a reveal. *No wonky spawns. *HUMOR! Tweaks *It is 1 mish. That's it. So, I say, Fie on thee, because you're a cheater pants. Everyone knows you'd make a mistake if you had 2. Or 3, or...500! (kidding) Play this if: *You want to run one damn mission, and that's it, f***er!:-) *You like a cool, light-hearted romp. *You're Josh Jones --'cause what else ya gonna do. Don't play if: *No reason not to, really. It's short. It's well-crafted. It has grins. Oh...wait...don't play if: you're a farmer.:-) That's quick hit #1, folks. Might tool around for another here in a short-short. If not, please: play the story arcs. There's some great ones out there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're not gonna Pac-Man XP's (use 2XP, and you'll be fine, man), but you might discover what SFMA regulars already know. The population has some talent. Storytellers, comedians, lore masters, and noir masters. We've got new maps now, and new tools a-comin', so grab your friends and throw us a bone. A really big one. Like that axe-steak thingy you can get at restaurants (word of advice: NEVER try to take one of those off a live cow...yeah...). Adios, heroes & vills, Crane WHERE IS MY LAB COAT, DOUCHE BAG?

I can't faceplant? Damn. You took away my best move.:-) Thanks. I'll put it at the top of the list. Right behind the next thing @Darmian does (no pressure, kemosabe, but, gdamnit, we're waiting).:-D

SFMA=good suggestion, and it is being implemented. Once it was proposed (I don't know by whom), I started flagging all my stuff with it (and I'm far from alone in that). That may be the best we can hope for. I've seen plenty of farms labeled as such, though certainly not all (same with SFMA material). We can add it ourselves, but perhaps a button or switch to auto-flag/sort it? Different subject, but, since I'm going to get back to more consistent reviews, I'd be happy to run your arcs. I have a toon specifically dedicated to just AE. Trying to run him up using just SFMA. He's only L12 at the moment, but he's eager.:-) Recommendations of where I should start on your stuff?

It wasn't meant as an attack on farms and farming. It was basically I feel like we're tripping over each other. Well, not even that. Story arcs are buried by farms, save for Dev's Choice. It's obscured enough to where it's a very small niche. I'm not sure how to best advocate for that space, but I know we could use it. Don't care if people farm. But farm space is story space, and there's no easy way to get out of the cornfield (so to speak). It's about the situation. Not the people. Sorry if what I said came across otherwise. However, I didn't think it was out line to suggest "AE" is, or seems to be, synonymous with farming. I guess it's all "entertainment," though. And, since it is, I'd like to advocate for this version in a way that's constructive. My framing of the discussion may need some work, though.:-) Let's be clear though -- you ARE the Root of All Evil. And I'm coming for you (like, really subtle and sneaky-like...like a tiny rash).:-)

Dude in background is like: Where he been? I dunno where he been. Other guy's like: .......(man, when's lunch?).... Lady in fronta Josh=Get. Off. The. Counter. Gonna take her advice. I mean, s'been about a year or somethin. So, what got, what we got? Evidently, a gun and an entourage (er, I'M sorry - a WEAPON [I know some a' you's prior service, yo...or you watched Full Metal Parka...or somethin'...) What to do, what to do? Okay, L11. Gonna search SFMA, my level. Well, hot damn. Why not, bruh? *First off, kudos for being the first (and perhaps only) arc to include the phrase "Lickable Science." I used to teach 4th graders. They're all Ph.D's on that, man. So, contact Catbird sez, KIDNAPPING! And I say YO! And off we go. Who cares if the verbiage says EXTREME WHATCHAMAHOOIE WITH LOTS OF BAD MOJONESS? Or who cares if send off text says this?: I assure you, Josh does not adjust (um...right?) P.S. Going into mish, I have exactly one Insp, and it's this color. Know what I like about these guys? They just stand there and let me shoot them. They're like, "You not tank. Ugh! Not movin'!" First glowie text=Making friends with the dog. Since I am clicking a crate, thought, I figure Fido must belong to Schrodinger (hey...he MIGHT have a backup pet...). But it's not, as it turns out that SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERNEVERMINDJUSTNOTPUTTINGITDOWN (but seriously, this dog is part of the reveal at the end, so...woof...and stuff). First room INSP count: 5 (3 of them? (sigh) blue) Few more rooms. Knocking out Clocks. KB -- the squishy soloist's BFF. Okay, so Doc FL may be tough. But I got myself an ace in the pit: All about timing, bronnaise. Oh, and uh... Um...she's gonna help (eyes front, man...eyes front!) So, Ms. Science isn't going to Comic Con. Excellent. Follow me, sandals. So Insp count as of now. 10 regular... And one super insp: Pummel more clocks. Then I ping L12 in the boss room, race ahead of L.S. to get to FL man (and let's be fair, her name's Kelsey - and this wasn't HER choice of garb-find her lab coat is a mish objective...{that I kinda want to fail?}) Anyhoo, all LEVEL-INSPED up and... "Tough Opponent" goes under the heading of propaganda (or typical marketing) BUT: Turns out this is a transformer mission. More than meets the eye, my friend. THA END: So, long story short, I get Kelsey's lab coat back (yea, that Lickable thing was a...a...hell, I dunno what that was). Florida guy had a REALLY good reason for his hijinx (like possibly being high as well as drunk). The moral of the story? Choose your friends, wisely (and don't knock guns, man. guns are guns). Verdict: 4/5 I'd say, due to the only thing under Tweaks (below) Strengths: *Nice customs. Like, really. Mixed in with the clocks, so not overdone. And I liked the costumes (um...some more than others). *No typos. Easy to find spawns. *Nice clue progression. Gives hints, then a reveal. *No wonky spawns. *HUMOR! Tweaks *It is 1 mish. That's it. So, I say, Fie on thee, because you're a cheater pants. Everyone knows you'd make a mistake if you had 2. Or 3, or...500! (kidding) Play this if: *You want to run one damn mission, and that's it, f***er!:-) *You like a cool, light-hearted romp. *You're Josh Jones --'cause what else ya gonna do. Don't play if: *No reason not to, really. It's short. It's well-crafted. It has grins. Oh...wait...don't play if: you're a farmer.:-) That's quick hit #1, folks. Might tool around for another here in a short-short. If not, please: play the story arcs. There's some great ones out there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're not gonna Pac-Man XP's (use 2XP, and you'll be fine, man), but you might discover what SFMA regulars already know. The population has some talent. Storytellers, comedians, lore masters, and noir masters. We've got new maps now, and new tools a-comin', so grab your friends and throw us bone. A really big one. Like that axe-steak thingy you can get at restaurants (word of advice: NEVER try to take one of those off a live cow...yeah...). Adios, heroes & vills, Crane WHERE IS MY LAB COAT, DOUCHE BAG?

Maybe so. But I’m sure a good storyteller could come up with some sort of work around. :-)

I would steal from Frankenstein. The holograms in the A.P. and Mercy locations have developed full sentience. Or some of them anyway. But the question of whether they have actual self-determination is debatable because their sentience is based on programming. Rather than deal with the consequences of their creation, the Creators shut the building down and destroy all evidence of their existence. So sort of a combination of Frankenstein and the Star Trek episodes dealing with whether or not Data (and the holo-doc from Voyager) is a “person.”

Okay, so it's been since, like OCT 2021 or something, but I'll be returning to Josh's Odyssey. Going to transfer him from his original shard and bring him over to Torch. Likely put him in The Long Riders, then do from there. I'll have something up this week, fer sure.

I've seen some of that. It really does sound awesome. Can't wait to check it out when it shows up.:-)

With the huge AE Debate thread turning into a discussion of farming, as well as the thread here asking about what folks thought of the new patch that elicited immediate responses about farms, I'm kind of at my wit's end about what I do as a SFMA scripter. By this I mean that farming is so pervasive that AE is evidently synonymous with it. A player hears AE, they think of farms first, everything else second. It's tough enough being lumped in with farm mishes, which get hundreds of runs as a matter of course, and shove story mishes off the page. Now the umbrella term for both story and farms feels as if it's been usurped completely by the latter. The AE Debate thread wasn't about AE. It was (is) about farms. "AE"=farms. That's where we are now (and maybe always have been). I realize story offerings cater to a different kind of player. But it feels like we can't really carve out a good spot for our own boutique. Instead, we're stuck at the far end of the strip mall, surrounded by big box stores. I guess there's no fix for this. We can label our stuff "SFMA," and see what happens. Lord knows I'll keep writing shit just because I like to do it. But it would be nice if, when AE questions come up, we hoity-toity story designers were in the equation. The Devs do keep us in mind, thankfully, in updates, and there's been some work done toward giving writers a wider variety of tools. But our own store, away from Wal Mart, CostCo, Best Buy, etc., would be welcome. We're a destination restaurant, not a drop-in. We ain't gettin' foot traffic from farmers. I'd like to stay outta of their way and - somehow - get them to stay out of mine. I have no idea how to get SFMAs their own location, but it'd be nice to have one (I know @Darmian gave suggestions on this long ago). 'Til then, I guess it's spreading the word. Which means I should probably yank Josh Jones out of mothballs and do more reviews. Anyhoo, after that ramble, the question is this: how can we raise the SFMA profile to whittle away at the AE=FARMS! perception (even just a little bit)? How to highlight what writers (let's call them that, as opposed to scripters) do as a viable entity in the CoH experience? One thought I had on this: SG/Player commissions for custom arcs. If it's personal, you get more plays.

From the SFMA perspective (bearing in mind I haven't yet done any new scripting with the update): *New maps and additional enemies is always nice. *New usable powersets is GREAT. Access to some things within the sets (like sniper attacks) is also Tony the Tiger great. *I do not plan on using the Advanced Custom Enemies function at the moment. First, players will not get XPs for these (for reasons explained in the patch notes). Now, I'm sure anyone running what I write isn't thinking about XP's, but, seeing as how I can't personally reward anyone in anyway, I'd rather not give them nothing. What I'd still like is the ability to place objectives in specific locations, so that wonky spawns don't move things around. Feel like I spend a bit of time fiddling with #/objectives just to get consistency of placement. When it does happen, if feels like a miracle (esp. if it happens early in testing). All the above stuff is very nice to have. But fine control over where the stuff goes would make life a bit easier if you're doing something other than farm mishes.

Well, gang, there's been some new stuff thanks to the update. And just because of the change to Invul, I'm finally gonna do something I've never done: a plain ol' Inv/SS Tank. Thinking about a different path for this amored weirdo. Maybe doing all the bank mishes this time. Right now, he's on overwatch in The Hollows. I mean, nobody seems to own these towers, so...maybe he'll set up a house there.:-) Oh, yeah...went with the new Blitz stance, so he looks like he's determined to ram his head into everything. Fits. Also switched that yellow to orange. Why? Hell if I know. Maybe he likes shiny, orange briefs.

So THEY don’t get pissy? hoookay… Speaking of, shouldn’t this be a private discussion with them? The general population can’t do much when it comes to responding to what sounds like an official complaint.

Well...it had to happen sometime... That's a well-deserved bow for the Sergeant-Major. First to 50! (had to race the hell outa of Omega Fury, but we did it!):-)

Hey there, posse! If you're looking for a little more oomph for your Rider, we now have a decent selection of IO sets. Your friendly neighborhood Sergeant-Major has been crafting away, and here's a snapshot of what you can grab from IO storage: 5 Tempered readiness (first 2 are L39, last one is 48, so you'd need to add over time). 2 Steadfast protection (these are lowbie recipes, L14/15-+1.5% recovery though!) 2 Exploit Weakness (Ls 38 and 39 - get a 3% movement bump) 2 Efficacy Adapters (these are L21 and 29, so they're spread out. but a good start to the set) 2 Brilliant Leadership (Got Pets? You can slot these L18 and 19 to get +4% Regen) 2 Befuddling Aura (get a small bump to rec [+1%] with your Confuse powers) 2 Analyze Weakness (Ls 36 and 39. +10% regen!) Don't seem like much, I supposed, but we're talking about working with drops, so it's like panning for gold. Assuming I can get some orange Magic salvage, Acro is carrying 2 Perfect Zingers in the 40s for some lucky tank. Get a boost versus toxix, psionic and mez! Now, back to the grind We're 1 bar from 49. Hoping to pop the ultimate today! Vaya Con Carne, all. Crane

One of the dark armor auras will give you a sort of smoky look. Or nix your idea and maybe do a rescue. Or level everything down to fit the pirate. Or just change the rescue target to fit the level. yeah…sometimes AE writes YOU…:-)

a) Millie Dixon (thought I thought the game was "porn star name" [which makes my wife's moniker of Oscar Old Route 30 pretty damned funny]). b) Pretty goddamned rich, man (I'd waste it all on sets for potential toons I'd never make).

Oh, if only that were a reasonable expectation...:-)

I'm thinking someone who is adamantly anti-farm/multibox/whatever-isn't-traditional doesn't see these things as merely using a hypermodern opening, but rather they see such things as analogous to adding pieces to the board prior to play, leading to a much easier checkmate (to the point, I suppose, that playing the entire game is moot). Like a player is breaking the rules to achieve victory or something. The notion seems to be that Coh's "board and pieces" are (or should be) fixed, so that, whether playing trad or 960, it's always the same basic composition. In this context, their argument would be, you're introducing elements that don't belong in the game. Get those extra Queens outta here! Thing is, though, since all that everyone does is doable within the confines of the game (its "rules and board"), and players themselves are simply using what's there, the argument doesn't apply. Further, whatever it is that constitutes checkmate is variable, as well. The engine does what it's designed to do. Players decide what challenges they want to face, at whatever level of difficulty (or ease) they want. The only thing everyone gets is the same passel of rewards, some of which some players never even bother to pursue (while other rewards, some players pursue with laser-like precision). What they're asking, as Ukase and others have pretty much stated, is to enforce one victory condition, independent of the freedom the game allows. My only response to this is careful what you wish for.

Have to agree with this. And it makes sense you should be able to solo (most) everything. Now, I'd prefer to run more things on teams, preferably at a moderate pace, with teams of friends. I even miss the travel from one point to the next. Mish pops up, and everyone heads out, using their various modes of transport (feels cool to see the flyers take off, the speedsters launch down the roadways, and the ground pounders running and leaping along their way). I like seeing the map reveal itself as I/we explore more and more parts of the city. But, as has already been noted, it's entertainment, and that's what entertains me. Not everybody else. I don't get the allure of just farming, or playing the market, or basically just gathering Inf. Then again, I don't have to. There's room enough for people who do get it to do that. So, to each their own. Which means I don't really see a debate here, since no one is going to change anyone's mind on what's subjectively fun for them. I kind of wish this entire thread would just go away, but I guess this type of discussion is also someone's version of fun. Just hoping we don't see some sort of weird turn that makes it to where I (and others like me) can't use AE to script SFMA arcs anymore.

Sure thing. You're still welcome for the invite to full access the base and all, though, if you want. Have a great run!