cranebump

TWEAKS & CHANGES: *Reduced number of rescues in M2 to 1 required and 3 optional. Reduced glowies from 2 to 1 by truncating the 2 clues. I still hate that map. What I'd really like is a small corner of the forest. But I need to learn how to use outdoor maps better, and it fits the arc, so...whaddaya gonna do?:-) *Gave some of the Lt's names. *Still need to check: Spawns in M3. Sometimes they're dead on. Other times, they're wonky, and cause backtracking.

Got inspired by Iago's speech in Othello: "Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners." Then it sorta went from there. TEST NOTES: *Initial run throughs=L15 "Power Pool" character. Had issues with some of the customs and the boss. Nerfed them all before proceeding. *2 runs with my exemplared L50 Incarnate Blaster. Last mish was tough, but that was because I had tagged ally reinforcements as "Enemy." Derrrrrr..... Fixed and ran again. No issues. *Final run with a L27 Rad Melee/Nrgy Shield Tank. Only issues occurred when I decided to grab several groups of customs. Btw: Was GREAT fun after clearing the final boss to lead the leftover mobs right into my allies. Ahhhhhh....die, you gravy sucking pigs! *Lore wise, this uses Pavel Garnier, 6 months after his Vahzilok plague arc (and presumably after Pos TF has taken out Doc Vahz, leaving a power vacuum). *Had to make a pair of mishes 14-20, rather than 15, because, even though Hellions and Skulls WILL spawn at higher than 14, the default list has them at 14. The engine simply wouldn't let me play the mish until I dropped it down to 14 (even as it had missions saying, "This is allowed for publish."). I look forward to your feedback (yes, Kyksie, I am levelling you down again, like the douche I am).:-) Crane

Right under the wire, @NyxiaSnow:-)

I played it and reviewed it in My Josh Jones stuff.

The whole "take a bite, the decide," statement doesn't hold water. You can put a rating on arc without even entering the mission. Just load it, abandon it, rate it. So you can "decide" without even sampling it, which is very (VERYVERYVERY) likely what the revenge rater did. Based on the evidence offered (the offender's own words), It's also pretty much beyond "possible" that the revenge rater is being a colossal jerk. Not sure why you're defending them, unless you happen to know who they are, and/or you know something the rest of us don't.

Kennedy for me. Got me there.:-)

While running Frostfire last night with a group of 3 , including 2 new players (who prefer villains), one of them says, “Let’s slit their throats!” Reply: “We’re heroes, gentlemen. Let’s arrest their throats.” That was pretty fun. Later, villain side, while one of us isn running around doing Dr. Graves’s road trip around Mercy, 2 of us fart around with emotes and have a little dance party in front of the quartermaster. Random player lands next to us, dances for 16 seconds, then zooms away without a word. That was fun. So...sh*t like that.:-)

Two birthdays from 60. 60! What the hell? Who is this guy in the mirror? Is that...my dad? Or my grandfather?

(Sheepish voice) I enjoyed fighting the guards...:-)

This isn’t a solution to the problem, but, in general, working with AE is often best approached using the “path of water.” Which basically means it is often better (or at least just simpler) to work with what AE gives you, rather than try to force it to do what it cannot easily do. Crafting a decent mission using the basic tools can be challenging enough. I often find myself adjusting my own goals and ideas to what I’m given, rather than the other way ‘round. It’s sorta like you’re making a movie, and you want to do ‘X,’ but you only have the budget for ‘Y.’ So, long story short: how can you accomplish the same or similar objective you’re seeking, above, given your “budget?” Do you have to have mid-mission dialogue? Or can this be something you can accomplish using clues, or your arc contact? What will your “budget” allow?

Man, do I hate DST. I just can’t get my wife to believe how detrimental it is. Lucky for her, I finally just kept my bitching to myself.

Give everyone enough to pay off their car loans and see what happens. I sold some land I inherited several months ago. We paid off both cars and a credit card bill we’d had since moving (again - a move we didn’t get to prepare for). No loans out, you can actually build some wealth and, you know, buy stuff for the grandkids. in any case, my advice about giving someone something. If you're going to monitor how it’s used, don’t bother giving it away in the first place. Worst thing is someone who lends someone a hand, then holds it over them the rest of their lives. It’s a gift, not a small business loan.

Not really. You can use Allies without any enemies on them, but their dialogue usually "pops" before you actually get to them. I'll freely admit I'm not the expert on this, though.

It's already been stated, but, to be clear: you've got me confused with the OP. And we obviously disagree about whether to hold this person accountable, so I won't belabor the point.

Okay, a) it’s not my personal content, and b) did you read the exchanges reported here by the OP? It’s not the reviews. It’s the fact that the douche bag we’re talking about rated several arcs 1-star as a revenge move because he couldn’t handle a critique. It’s the behavior that’s the issue, not the reviews. And bad behavior is reportable.

Slotted KB to KD on all my AR powers that have it, giving my incarnate good damage and some soft control. Paired with Tac Arrow, so he has some support capabilities as well. Of my 50s, I play this one the most.

The personal messages clearly show the person’s Intent. And regardless of taste, there’s no excuse for being a douche bag, which is how that person behaved. I’m not sure what slippery slope we’d be on, unless it’s a slide into demanding a modicum of manners.

They’re effective. They’re just not so overpowered as to be able to pancake everything in 3 seconds. One thing about playing this way - I find myself snipe/pulling a lot more (and resting between battles).

Sure, I'll bite. Lemme figure out what to run. With nothing but drops, I'm gonna want something that gives me a movement boost as an inherent. I like tah move it, move it, after all.:-) Went with all the KB: Nrgy/Nrgy Blastage, like my first real toon back in the day. We who are about to faceplant give you a hearty wave. (guess I don't care about inherent travel as much as I thought)

Ran this puppy with my AE-only toon. Had fun with it! Full review and comments are in the Josh Jones arc.

You (didn't) ask for it! It's finally here! The Return of Joshua “I’m a Badass” (sorta, or maybe not) Jones! Eee-hee-hee! He’s back folks. And ready for some lowbie action! ‘Cause he’s a lowbie! Yeah...and stuff. Today’s selection: As opposed to Snakes on a mutha****in’ plane. I dig. Our contact: LB Agent Hahn: Pointy hat - check. Appropriate color scheme - check. Purple face - che...wait a minute. You got any cream for that, man? M1: Someone with real power? Hang on, lemme see if Pos it available. Pretty sure, I...oh...you mean me…{heh} My task: take down the snake in charge. Then BECOME the snake in charge!...or not? Upon entry - echoes of gunfire! My kind of mish! Guess why? Ding! You win. So naturally I start with fists...derrrr… You got it, sweet cheeks! Er...sir… Ssssorry to hear that. Perhapsssss I can assssissst… Okay, when I said “assssissst” I didn’t know it meant ASSSSSSISSSSST! (dat’s a lotta dudes) Thankfully I’ve got help. Check out the LB dance moves! I’m inspired as all get out! Hmmm...better be on the look out for the upgrade… “Business Casual Man.” Or maybe… ...but, of course… NOTE: The captors are named. Interesting touch. Some have names like “Transe” and “Dase.” Josh hates big words! And words where S’s are used for other letters! Shoot them!:-) So, I lose one of my LB pards (the lovely lady). End up facing off against more captors, with different types of captives. Gotta say, all that poison and stuff hurts! I save someone named Devon Ophir, which Josh would know is a lot like ophidian - if he hadn’t dropped out of 5th grade. Find another captive, Arun Neelam. Then I get this weird map glitch (??): I’ve been transported! To the land of milk and...never mind...more snakes. End up taking on Mesmer (in snake, Messssss [I’ll suck out your mind, bro!] merrrr. My male LB companion survives, obviously due to his entitled status. End clue sez: Well, okay, but I DID figure that out on my own. I’m SMART! I can do things! Speaking of: End clue matches the mish clue. Unless there’s a reason to differentiate (later on maybe), I don’t think we need C1-1. MISH 2: Now off to find “hard to catch - easy to bribe” Mongoose (nice touch). We get dropped into Mercy for this one. I run straight into law enforcement. Hey...that’s one half MY line, bro… So you can count...well done. Hey - any openings in Longbow? I think I might qualify. MISH 3: Jesus, Hahn, do I have to do EVERYTHING? Mainly a gather info mish, but: What am I supposed to do with the Base Leader? Since you ain’t sayin’, I choose the tango! These things: Sooo glad they don’t hatch in AE. Then again, maybe they do. And they’re mixed with spider eggs! (nor really, but see that dude back there? BOO!) At this point, I’m relieved to see Arachnos, becaese (1) they don’t spew nasty poison, and (2) they don’t self heal right as I get them down to a sliver of health. I know you said, “Capture” snake eggs, but it’s so much easier if I just break them, ‘k? Well this can’t be good… Hmmm...repurposing snakes as power cables. INSSSIDIOUSSSS! Under the heading “happy accident:” I'll take care of this. You just dangle there. Countered by “not quite so happy accident:” Seriously...a fence? All done! NOTE: Excellent placement of spawns. Everything was right there in one room. Found a typo: “Brought” Clues say an Arachnos Flyer involved. HURRAH! I’ve been needing some new wheels! Or...wings...whatevs… Well, when you’re as dumb as Josh, it has some advantages.:-) MISH 4: Well...since you ASKED. But I want Milky Ways. The special kinds, from holidays and such. Get with it! NOTE: I like the “Accept” texts (I will. I can.) Make me feel all businesslike and shit. Okay, NOBODY invited Ghost Widow. Hmmmm now where could that flight log BE…? 🙂 Log spawned on the first flyer I found. Easy peazy. Or rather, peassssssssy. MISH 5: Wha…? Well, why didn’t we START here, Hahn! Okay, I’ve had this formatting error happen to me before, too: You actually have to type out the word “percent,” or you’ll get this (which I’m calling perssssssssssent, for obvious reasons):-) Entry popup tells me I’m in a snake cave. Good thing, ‘cause I thought this was Barbados.:-) This sure looks like a pile of not active glowies. Now that I figured out I had my screen settings on dim, I should be able to see them better (derrrrrrrrr[x2]). Found Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, and we’re off! ‘Goose and I take down “the greatest of all snakes” before ambush hits. Then we’re off to get some shawarma. SUMMARY: A nice addition to the Snakes catalogue. Fits in well in CoV, with enemy/location selections. My lowbie was appropriately challenged. Strengths: Strong spawn placement. Use of custom names for snake captors. Succinct Accept text (I can. I will. I must. I...m AWESOME). Only found one measly typo (and one big formatting thing). Easy fixes. Fast paced. Great use of the original snake maps. Tweaks: The above typos/formatting. Not much personality to the contact (unless being super obvious and direct is a personality trait). No surprises anywhere, but, at this level, most surprises are nasty, so… MISH 5 title: I'm not sure how the title fits. Maybe I missed the obvious. It IS Josh, you know. TO THINK ABOUT: Maybe some indication of why I was immune to snake control, and how that could be harvested by LB as an antidote. But that may be a follow up arc? Play if: You want to revisit the Snakies, but with a twist. Don’t play if: Snakes...why did it have to be snakes? ANNNNND...Josh made it to Level 8! BOOYAH, BEEYOATCHERINOS! Snakefully Yours, Crane

Draft complete! Definitely in need of testing. INITIAL NOTES: Ran with a L15 Scrapper. It's got some tough spots. Watch out for the "Houdinis." End Boss is tough, but you have help. I plan on running it with some of my more tricked out toons today. Could really use a team run (or several, actually) Also planning on running some of other peeps arcs, now that I can take a break from this. Thanks in advance, Crane

I posited that the storm did come, the heroes were losing, and ended up shunting 7 years of war into a “time strip” called the Mobius. I then scripted a 10-arc AE metastory to take the player through it (which one player actually played). Then I pulled it all down to recompose it. Shorter this time...:-)

Update on part 2: Plot outline done. Custom critter groups done. Trying to do this in 4 parts, rather than 5 (making it closer to Pos2). We'll see if I can cram all this in, since 2 is something of a "reveal" arc. Thinking about redoing the rescue mish for Welch in #1, above. Would make more sense if he didn't follow the player and gun down loyal citizens.:-)

Aren’t we splitting hairs here? I mean, I’m basically doing the same thing as the OP when I post a review (and what is the Dojo about, if not this same process?) i would also argue that a private critique might be preferable to a public review, especially if there are major issues. If it’s private, then at least my errors are not being publicly advertised.