Ankylosaur

Escorts, I am using the spectral pirates too. (among other things) The idea in the first 3 maps is you are going to another plane to summon gods to your bidding. You do this by clicking a glowie in part. Because it can be annoying to find glowies, I have many escorts around that are not required, are "empty" (no guards), and are noncombat. If you run into one, the marker shows where the glowie is for you. I am using spectral pirates in the "Hell" mission 3

The gifts from the latest update impact Glimmers too, in significant, though much smaller, ways. In 4.2, Ninjas in the wind, which has to do with the order of the wind and much more, I was able to replace my custom Levantera, Borea and Dark Watcher with the real deal! Now they won't be quite so squishy! In 4.3, in place of the Vaults of the Mu, which is the very final map, I was able to use the Ziggurat map because its more awesome by all measures. I think it will be more satisying - the final fight in the Vaults of the Mu map that is replaced is in a little cave and it does not feel very epic or grand.

Well, I spent hours and hours at it and can say I am squarely done with a first pass - which is to say the main things are changed, and now it needs a complete playthrough to find all the finer details that I may have overlooked. But the big boulders are moved - and now where there were Gold Brickers (and ConDev) it is 99% out-of-the-box Gold Brickers. (King Midas has to be custom). Gotta make sure that "Canon related" checkbox is accurate 😉 The key changes Now - with the big sweep done, it's time to pass through again with a finer-toothed comb. On the off chance anyone is playing through this and sees any oddness - feedback, as always, is welcome and appreciated,

I am using them in a level 40-50 mish along with other lower-level things that act only as ways to help you find the glowie. Blow through the first few missions of All That Glimmers 4.3 to see what I mean. Another source for specters as allies/escorts are the Necromancy MM pets in the pets group which span all levels.

Wow! So this latest release was a gift and a (pleasant?) burden! So much new Gold Bricker stuff that I really am thinking of doing a big ole simplification rewrite pass on Glitters 2.2 to 4.3. As mentioned above, I have already done a pass to integrate my own custom versions of mobs, but now I should consider redoing it with the new mobs and the new maps. It also gives me a chance to simplify it a bit. I already felt it was a little heavy on named villains before Mr. Rodney and Princess Zoe showed up. All the names make it hard for the player to keep track of everyone (sort of like the Council). I like my customs, but am a little torn over whether I should keep them, or remove them altogether. You just can't get the true gold bricker look in the costume creator - their color of yellow/gold is not a standard color. But then the Rocketeer. Rockette, Dirigible, Airship, Strafer. Beamer, Zeppelin and Spitfire would all be out... The inter-dimensional nature of Brickernauts and AU Gold Brickers make me want to maybe replace or augment ConDev inter-dimensional pirates too... Current simplification thoughts

Give him reflection effects as his travel power and he will be ghosty. But why won't it allow it? I am sure I have spectral following someone around as an escort. (Using several to spectral escorts to help you find hard to find items on a big map.) Maybe its because he's either an escort or noncombat or both? or not required?

It's a very old question, so clearly, there is not an easy answer. And it's more than needing filters or a place to play (though adding a "story-only" terminal in the new RP zones could be nifty, or having the Kings Row and Port Oakes AEs be known as the "AE story buildings" or something). I think we should be honest about what may be the problem: Not that many people seem to be looking for original stories from unknown authors. They are escaping to do CoH and are faced with where to spend their time for fun - and they choose something else. It's not like there are loads of people coming to the MA Forums saying - "Where are all the good arcs?!" or "I'd do AE if only there were a story filter." There are one or two people occasionally, but generally, I suspect Dev's choice answers those questions well enough for those who want to dabble in a story here or there, and even those only get a few plays for the most part. The 801 series shows that some people like to min/max and take on the biggest challenge they can find - that is their fun. Farming shows that some people just like building out characters and are willing to do repeatable stuff to do so efficiently. Honestly, I presumed by now that there would be loads of people who have run through the core content so many times they would want new stuff to do, but evidence suggests otherwise. Most people seem more interested in building out their characters (a creative endeavor of its own) and re-running end-game content to do so. And I think that may be just the way it is. And that is not something software can change.

Also from the SFMA standpoint - lots of opportunities to leverage the new stuff in existing stories Gold Brickers I am both excited to have Gold Brickers at all levels since All that Glitters is a series where I had to create custom Gold Brickers, and sad that the right thing to do may be just to pull out all those customs I spent all that time making. 🙂 Still noodling one whether to lose mobs like Rocketeer, Rockette, Dirigible, Beamer, Strafer, or keep them and integrate them. May need some recoloring work (can't quite get that Boomer yellow right). I also feel negligent if I don't figure out how to use the Gold Bricker maps in there... Nictus Also working on a story here so having some EBs for key characters is nice too. Vanguard Guess I can swap out Borea and Levantara too from Ninjas in the Wind.

More testing more changes, including a new mob! And now I've asked for it to be returned to Dev's Choice - hurray!

After a playthrough or several...

Thanks for that feedback! I think you are right. I do like interleaving in the Kheldian story, but I don't have a strong enough story there to justify three arcs to a UPA story. Also - have thought of additional stories I could tell in Gleams since you mentioned wanting more there - maybe one day.

This arc has been getting a great number of plays, and there are several things that I have wanted to do for, well, years, but the "can't edit a dev's choice" message scared me off But I discovered you can if you ask nicely. 🙂 Or rather the devs will kindly reinstate it after you make your edits. So - I have made a number of edits based on the post arc comment feedback and my own ideas. These are tiny refinements, but hopefully make the experience even better for those that like it. In case you want to know... Going to run through it a few time to look for typos.- make sure I didn't break anything with character renames.

It's interesting you just played PvA @Icono04 because I thought of weaving the PvA series into Glints to better explore the Post - primal Marchand side of things. As you saw in Gleams - its already woven in parts, and Buddy Bolton appears all over the series. The PvA 1 experiment of an arc kind of begs to be redone, as the experiment of multiple paths with failed missions has not been received super well, and it is already spanning multiple levels, so fits in nicely. Would love your opinion on whether interleaving these would make for a more interesting and complete story or not.

I've not played this, but here's a tactic I've used on the Nem map, that may help - If you have a way to include an escort that has a destination in the cave, that helps players find it more easily. And yeah, defend objects are VERY easy to fail. They make for great set dressing if they are optional though.

So - already thinking about expanding Glints. It currently is a follow-up to the Mr. G Primal arc, but could also act as a follow-up to the Marchand Primal arc. Can rework PvA to just be core here in a better way. To make sure I have my ducks in a row and represent the whole Council and 5th Column conflict well here, I thought I would jot down where I think everyone is at the end of that Marchand story. Maestro - You defeat him first and he is in the Zig Nosferatu - Defeated - in the Zigq Burkholder - fought by Aurora Pendragon on Striga Arkhn - teleports away Requiem - never on site but rebuilding 5th Burkholder - defeated on striga by character - though maybe escaped by own hosp? Vandal - defeated on striga by character - though maybe escaped by own hosp? The Center - somewhere with... Dr. Arvin - working on super soldier serum

@TerroirNoir - thanks for advocating for AE stories and mentioning my arcs!. @Erhnam I wrote a far too long series with what you are looking for in mind. It goes from Level 1 - 54, and at level 20ish forks into three parallel paths. The general theme is exploring the fallout of the Post Praetorian world and the power plays and shifting dynamics because of it. All That Glitters primarily explores a couple of groups getting an advantage with Praetorian tech - while also spreading the wealth with allies. They have a big plot that changes the dynamics of things significantly by the end. Anchored in places, each arc is in a specific zone as the group is expanding its hold in hazard zones and forgotten areas. All That Glimmers focuses on magic. The initial premise is the Praetorian Refugees / First Warders are finally given a permanent home in Astoria now that Mot is defeated, but they have to fight a bit to reclaim it. There is a more serious plot too, with someone behind something else much more significant there -very tied to lore that was known but never made it in game - though my path with it flips it. All that Glints - focuses on the fallout of Mr. G's arc and what happens with Penelope Mayhem. Police vs. Aliens fits in, too but is all Kheldian and pretty high level If it piques your interest, start with All that Glitters 1.1 and see if it holds it. 1.1 and 1.2 are pretty quick. But 1.3 you'll find a big story that changes some things and then continues and has the parallel forks of All That Glimmers and All That Glints too. You'll see that plus more in my sig

All That Glitters 3.1 was originally written in Eden. If you've noticed, 2.1 - 2.3 all take place in Paragon's Hazard Zones. Part of the premise for Langston Corp. to move to Paragon is that they are willing to reclaim some of the hazard zones. The Mayor gives them abandoned land, and their Big Brother Construction arm constructs an office/warehouse/powerplant in the area, bringing in jobs. The Gold Brickers are brought in to secure the construction/productivity/manufacturing from the "Wild West" that is a hazard zone and the reclamation begins. Well, for a variety of reasons that I probably spelled out somewhere above, I moved 3.1 from Eden to Nerva. I've moved it back which introduces a new map and better motivations. The main thread is the same though, so if you happen to have played it - you end up in the same place. It is now All That Glitters 3.1: Extractions in Eden. Why? I doubt anyone cares a lick - but just working out loud. 🙂

Part three - Super Ego Manic is live now too! (Finally @Icono04. 🙂) Feedback welcomed as always! And that wraps up that series, sort of...

I'm not sure that's true @Darmian - 🙂 but who recalls? I have thought about renaming 1.1-1.3 to All That Gleams so that it is the Forks (Glitters, Gimmers and Glints) that ll have their own names, and then it reconvenes in All That Gleams 5.0 but, decided I'm worrying about minutia that is unimportant to anyone at all. 🙂 Making good progress on Glints 4.1 🙂

@Icono04 Thanks for your thoughts here, and for being brave enough to explore the whole campaign! I recognize how daunting it is with so many missions. (Some, especially in ATGlitters use some tiny maps though.) It will be interesting to hear your thoughts about Glitters having already been through Glimmers, Glints and Gleams (Glitters and Gleams also has ties to Police vs Aliens.) 1. Glad you enjoyed them - I like them a lot too and was pleased how they came together - part of why I did Gleams - to use them again, and I may dig in there one day. I had actually thought of building Gleams 5.0 out into a 3 series arc like the others - there is a lot packed into that single arc. It would mostly be a follow-up of the Scirocco and CoH stories, I think. But in the end, I thought it a little indulgent - I have more stories here already than most will ever play so a single capstone felt better. Maybe though, one day... 2. Post-Praetoria Campaign - Totally agree that the PPC title, while accurate, has almost no personality. I like your idea of putting the tech/Magic/Nat path before the number too, but decided that was not that important to reveal in the end - and its not really the main point of the plot, just a classification to delineate them. (Goldbricker plot, Mu plot, and Awakened plot could just as easily be the delineator) As you can see, I never followed through with the name change, instead deciding to leave the variants with the ATG format. (My OCD troubles me that Police vs. Aliens 1 fits in too and does not fit the ATG convention, but, what can you do... Those two PvA stories are a tight set though and totally different.). So, no, I am not married to the PPC name, and in fact, am worried it is cumbersome and dull. In the end, I did not think it would be a name change that would sell people on exploring this gigantic thing I have made - but if you have ideas, I am open. 🙂

@Darmian - you did - but thankfully, some kind souls have updated the homecoming wiki with all of their bios. In the end I created the Smelter version of Zoe since its easier to get closer to her powers. The updated wiki also gave me nice images/stats/bios to approximate the Breakers, Smelters. AU Brickers, AU Bombers, AU Rifters and Golden Brickernauts - Mr. Rodney too. The Smelters are tied to Zoe and some of the tech from old ConDev labs. The AU stuff appears pretty late and are tied into the raid on Crey (since their stuff uses Crey tech in part) and general ConDev group since they could all be inter-dimensional traveling buddies. It's all a bit of an aside, but it fits.

That took less time than I expected 🙂 Added in the changes and Glitters better integrates with the lore introduced by the Aeon Strike Force. Now I just need to buckle down and finish the Finale to All That Glints... So, @Darmian referencing your post above - I finished the thing. 🙂

A quick update on some future plans... I had made a pass to update All That Glitters with the new King Midas and Gold Brickers months ago. That initial pass focused on the story above and integrating the new King Midas and other characters into the existing story. I created some customs to fill the gaps, but had been hoping at some point that the devs would put the new Gold Bricker mobs in the AE, (and also fixed the broken 36-20 level mobs that did make it in - i.e. Rocketmen, Bombardiers, and Boomers) but alas, that never happened. I have been thinking about how to better integrate them into the story. Because so much of this new tech they have comes from stolen tech (e.g. AU-folk using Grey Armor and attacks) I think I can work that nicely into the stories (since they are raiding Crey for other reasons) and slowly introduce the new mobs across the levels. Will take some refining but I have ideas here... Updated the spoiler in a previous post (jan 14) with those changes.

Thanks for the mention @TerroirNoir! If you are looking to level a character, @Marshal_General, my All That Glitters Series (and it’s companion series’ which fork off it around level 20) go from level 1 to level 50 - sort of like the Kheldian arcs do. The core idea behind each series is to explore the fallout of the Post-Praetorian Paragon. Glitters focuses on the proliferation of tech and science and how a couple of groups use that to good effect building up to a huge coup and shift in power among some lore based rivals. Glimmers focuses on Magic and the First Ward folk trying to retake Astoria in a Post-Mot World as their new home and also leads to a huge shift in the balance of power exploring a lore thread that ever got built out. Glints focuses on Natural/Mutant (psi) and is a follow up on Penelope Mayhem and the Mr. G red side arc. A hard drive crash stalled me here on this finale but the ideas, maps, etc are all built in my head. 🙂 just takes some interest in it for me to bother. :)

Oh - and if memory serves - they added the limit of 6 ambushes because originally farmers were using loads of ambushes and across all the missions running them it was bogging down the servers.