cranebump

Okay, here's my run-through. I went with: KR Devil, an exemplared Incanate AR/TA. Why? I don't trust you, man.:-) M1 GREAT costume on contact. I’d title the missions, but that’s a style thing more than anything else. I feel like it’s another opportunity to add thematic components or easter eggs. And sometimes it’s fun to figure out if there are certain references involved (pop culture, Shakespeare, etc.) Feel like we need a period before “she has this magic doll.” Use of highlighting is interesting, but not sure we need as many things highlighted as you have. Typically, a highlight for the main mish objective (to accentuate the main objective). But, we’ll see what happens inside. Maybe it’s foreshadowing or something? Style, but maybe carriage return before “See you there!” Also I’d put “here’s the address” on the same line as Awesome! Miss Loud dewc: should be “but, often,” instead of “but often.” Great use of the escort. Excellent dialogue all the way around (NPCs, perps). Broom...hehehehe. Now THAT’s a neat trick.:-) Strong use of patrols. Fyrestorm down! SUMMARY: I could’ve done without the glowie chain. Looks like it was mainly to spawn an ambush. If so, maybe unlock the extra glowies by making them non-required. Then, when i seek out the doll, I might get it right, or I might trigger an ambush. Otherwise, I’m just running around for no reason. This is still a very good mission, and excellent use of the Hellions/customs. NOTE: Feels like the Nav Obj should be “Keep the kids out of trouble” or something. It IS a search and rescue, but feel like that could be a mish title instead. Not a “have to,” by any means. M2 Entry text: go there, like, right now. (comma needed) Contact text is character-rich. Nice job. Not sure why ??? is a mission goal? (the wolf, yes?) The NPCs are great! Ice cream vendor, etc. Nice touches. FYI: I HATE maps like these, but it worked well because it wasn’t overly cluttered. Wish it was **slightly** smaller, but the kids were easy to spot due to consistency of baddies. Felt weird spraying them with fire, though. (I'm a jackass...)😕 M3 Send off text: hehehehe...My toon is the King’s Row Devil and he’s telling me how to get around KR.:-) If it’s THIS crate, I can’t access it...yet… There we go. Second room. Only downside to window dressing - wondering if I'm gonna have to click ALL this stuff at some point. Rats in the sewer. Now, why didn’t I ever think of that?:-) (like, seriously) Lots of interesting window dressing (objects). M4 I’m working the Goonies…(sigh) 🙂 EXCELLENT multi-spawns of Skulhead. And self-deprecating reference “yeah, whatever beat this guy so we can move on” is a great touch! Ha. Niiice…. By this time, I’m like “Where are all the freakin’ adults?” Feels like I’ve been dropped into Stranger Things. Window dressing is one of the best things about the arc. That’s a lot of work just to create ambiance. Bravo. I am sooooo not a kid, kemosabe… Must assuredly… No, I got this. Y’all just...stand there…:-/ (and bullets MATTER, chick with the British boarding house mistress name!) Annnnnd...DONE! Good stuff: *The object window dressing is excellent. *Use of NPCs is superior (esp. “window dressing” (civilians in outdoor map [who are ignoring the kids being bullied]; “Guard duty”).:-/ *Dialogue is excellent. *A unique arc, due to the kid-centric focus. *It doesn’t take itself too seriously.:-) *It’s clean and fairly quick. Tweaks: *The glowie chain on M1. No reason to go to the trash can, the desk, the lockers, etc. Surprised Kyksie didn’t mention this, because it feels like one of those “time wasters.” I **think** I know the reason (ambush spawn?). But I’d do that the way I suggested, above. *A few minor grammatical things (commas) *What's up with the wolf? Never was mentioned again. Or did I miss that? (First rule of Poetics - everything should be attached to the plot in some way-but I digress...as you did there....):-) [I'm sure I just missed something). *I felt funny spraying down bullies with fire. Kinda wish the Hellions were messing with them instead (which would fit the whole “doll is magical and they want it” throughline). *I feel highlighting is overused. I don’t think “me and my sister” needs to be in green. Names are fine. Highlighting the major objective is fine. The rest, I’m not sure the need is there. It doesn’t hurt anything, however. *Just a personal preference: I like the individual mishes to be titled, but, again, personal preference. It’s fine the way it is. Verdict: It’s damn near a 5-star arc. Most of my suggestions are simply cosmetic. Better than probably the first 10 things I attempted. And you got a BEST EVER! from Kyks, so file that away (for the dark times....when you're scripting and the damned. thing. just. won't. work.):-) Well done! Keep it up! Crane

Some merits out there. For example, Willy Starbuck is 23. I only know that because I’ve been running a character primarily focused on pool powers and have been soloing old contacts. They do have a lot of Hunt mishes, but they don’t take too long, unless I happen to be slightly under leveled. If that’s the case, I grind up or do radios. Pick up explore tips and so on.

Appreciated, thanks. I agree on the comment about the judge. I’m also not sure what I did right, but I’m not going to belabor that at the moment. Thanks again, and looking forward to the next one!

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