Kyksie

Another week stuck at home, and many of us are starting to go off the deep end from boredom. Alphabetizing the spice rack and watching the entirety of Bewitched on Netflix only go so far, leaving us scrambling for ways to fill the time. Instead of filming your own telenovella or building a 1/10 scale replica of the Alamo in the backyard, Moonstar ULTIMATE: Part 5 gives us a way to make the hours fly by. 1) Again, the contact is Celeste Moonstar, who tells us that the assault on THE ENTITY is beginning. However, we still haven't been told who or what THE ENTITY is. Spider-Kitty does a quick Google, and the only thing she finds is a 1982 movie about a woman raped by a ghost. Hopefully that isn't what we'll be facing here, but Kitty checks her dentata just in case. Stepping into the portal, we are unexpectedly flung backwards in time to... ...Poohland? Poohland??? Kitty looks around frantically but doesn't see Tigger or Christopher Robin anywhere. Why is this world named Poohland? I can only think of one other reason why a world would be called that, and it ain't pretty. After a few minutes behind a dumpster, Spider Kitty begins searching Poohland, which looks a lot like Skyway. There are five EBs, collectively known as ???, from which I can only assume they're as confused as I am. They're pretty tough, but nothing can stand in the way of a fully incarnated Crab Spider. Except lawn sprinklers. Kitty hates those. 2) Again we're flung back in time to "Red City", which resembles Cap au Diable, but at least it doesn't smell as bad as the previous map. Five more ??? EBs, with no descriptions, and their only combat chat is "...". 3) Now we need to go to Kitty's timelime, which is "Tech Square" in 2010. Eleven EBs are waiting to be clobbered, with names like Ambrose Beepboop and Belle Beachball. The map is the instanced one with the SERAPH labs submap, making many of the mobs unaccessable unless the player knows enough to click on a particular door. 4) Time to enter Future Sonic's timeline for some reason. Kitty is sent to the Altas Park map and finds it occupied by twelve, yes, twelve EBs, at which point I threw down the mouse and closed the arc. Moonstar ULTIMATE: Part 5 is a time-waster of epic proportions. If you're a full-time basement dweller looking to while away the days until the next episode of Super Kawaii Ninja Schoolgirl Panty Raid, this arc is just what the doctor ordered. Everyone else, stay away.

With most everyone stuck at home for the foreseeable future, people are finding themselves with a lot of time on their hands. Now, granted, we're all hardcore MMO players, so quite a few of us have been practicing 'social distancing' long before it was cool, ensconced in our mommy's basement surrounded by a pile of Hot Pocket wrappers. Still, those of us who used to have lives are now sitting with CoH open on one screen, Windows Solitaire on another, and a long-abandoned copy of Atlas Shrugged half open on the end table (spoiler: it sucks). For those desperately looking for ways to kill more time, we have the latest installment in the MOONFIRE: ULTIMATE saga. 1) The contact is Sparkle Moonstar, who tells us that Ultraneon has enough people to attack THE ENTITY. We haven't been told exactly what THE ENTITY is, so I'm assuming it's really Aunty Entity, looking to solidify her hold on Bartertown. The player busts into a lab to find the location of the Lightspire, joined by Celeste and Sparkle Moonstar. We hack a computer, then defeat four elements, then the Guardian, a rather tough EB. The enemy mobs are a custom group, the Corrupted, with about eight or nine types and cool costumes. 2) We escort Sparkle to the center of the Lightspire, but there are baddies so we whomp them, then trek back to the mission exit. Oh no, Celeste was captured! 3) The player and Sparkle go rescue Celeste. Sparkle's bio describes her as having near-infinite power, making Spider-Kitty wonder why she's needed. Maybe she's there as an emotional support cat or something. Celeste was corrupted, so we smack her a bit until it wears off, then bring her to safety. Yup, you guessed it, we have to escort her all the way across the map to the exit. 4) Some Corrupted have followed us back to the home base, so we need to go whomp them. We join up with Ultraneon and Neon Jr. and YD Slasher and Xenon, and they all have friends too, resulting in a huge swarm of catgirls following the player. Although I couldn't see any tails, so maybe they're catgirls in spirit. For those of us who have just finished the last puzzle in the Big Book of Jumbo Crosswords our cousin sent us back in '03, MOONFIRE: ULTIMATE presents us with a great opportunity to kill time as we sit at home waiting for that 24-pack of paper towels to arrive from Amazon. Seriously, why is everyone so concerned about toilet paper when paper towels are in stock? They work just as well. Anyway, every mission in MOONSTAR: ULTIMATE will help you while the hours away: the first has a ton of objectives, the second and third make you walk back to the exit, and the fourth is a defeat all. By the time you're done, society will have finished collapsing, leaving you with no choice but to drive to Bartertown for toilet paper.

I tried the second arc today, and it went pretty much the same. The second mission contained a boss even though I had bosses set to off, who summoned multiple ambush waves, overwhelming my lvl 20 MM. The writing that I saw was top-notch, and I'm sure the rest of it is great too, but most low level characters will never see it.

Standard Operating Procedure 1) This arc opens in an interesting way, with the player having a dream about being on a rocky asteroid, and there's a dude named Willie Sullivan who appears hostile, but when you get closer he's friendly, and oh yeah Willie is also a chick. And then you wake up, but can't get her out of your head for months or something. Kinda like all the yiffers yiffing in Pocket D, whose bios tell you how you're enraptured by their ethereal beauty or something. 2) Now you're not dreaming, and Detective Frietag gives you a job. Or maybe you're still dreaming, you just woke up from one dream into another. Anyway, some dudes are breaking into an antique store in King's Row, so you head on down to make with the punching. The foes are guys who can't decide whether they're Hellions or Skulls. Maybe they wanted to join the Hellions because they can shoot fire, but then considered the Skulls because they shoot darkness. A tough choice. 3) Now we're headed into an office, where the "Skullions" are trying to steal a diamond. We rescue an African prince who needs our assistance in moving a large sum of money out of the country or something. The Skullions are a custom group with about a dozen members, with varied powersets, but no bios. Some of the names are a bit odd, like "Tactics-X" and "Darkfemme". Oh no, they stole the diamond! 4) Now we need to go into an office and plant a bug or something. More punching. For some reason we need to manually exit afterwards. 5) And finally the diamond is being put on a boat, so we go to the Port Oakes docks for more fistyness. A truck needs to be smashed, which triggered multiple ambush waves. We also need to "clear the decks"; I punched every mob on the boat, but the mission didn't end until I stood next to a decorative NPC. The story is continued in the next arc. This is a tough arc to rate. The writing is extremely well done, although the opening bit feels like it was written by someone in Pocket D roleplaying as a immortal demon vampire succubus from another dimension whose immeasurable beauty mesmerizes everyone in the room, bending them to her will. And also she has six boobs or something. There are a few spelling errors and missing descriptions, but the big problem here is the difficulty. Every map has wandering patrols who can arrive in the middle of a fight, and almost every objective triggers ambushes. The truck in particular appears to be set to send ambushes at 75%, 50% and 25% health, but it doesn't have many hitpoints, so after a few punches you will be knee deep in mobs. This is simply not a good idea for a map designed for levels 10-20. I tried it with a new lvl 10 MM and got flattened multiple times, then switched to a 50 stalker, and still had to eat a pile of insps. Standard Operating Procedure tells a very good story, but it really needs to be made more accessible to low levels.

After another week of 'arresting' Malta and Carnies and searching their pockets for loose change (loitering is a crime, right?), Kyksie finally decides enough is enough. Speaking to an old aquaintance in Port Oakes, she robs the bank in Atlas Park, then Kings Row, working her way through the city one bank at a time. After beating Overdrive for the third time at the Peregrine Island bank, she finds herself with enough cash for rent, bills, and a double helping of Freem Fries at Up-N-Away Burger. Still, being a full-time villain doesn't sit well with Kyksie, so after a quick shopping spree at Macy's (just the essentials, honest) she asks around if there are any heroic deeds that need heroing. 1) The contact is Elizabeth Bouchet, an agent for an anonymous client, who offers her a chance to save the world and get a substantial cash reward. Why didn't I hear about this last week? Oh well. She requires Kyksie to sign a contract before accepting, which is odd if the world really is at stake. We need to jump forward in time to get a crown or something. As always, the future is a broken hellscape, but instead of the usual biker gangs we find Coralax. In addition to the usual red and blue Coralax, there are pink and fushia and chartreuse varieties. Kyksie kicks a few and finds the coral crown. The popup stated that "ghost allies will help you find the crown", but I couldn't find any. 2) We need to 'borrow' a tome from the Legacy Chain. When we arrive there, the office is being attacked by Coralax, so more kicking. Oh no, someone got the tome already! And also Freakshow. 3) The Freakshow have formed a cult worshiping the ancient goddess Merulina. (which kinda rehashes the canon arc where we go after the Shaper). Off to the 'Freakshop', where we kick more Freaks and Coralax, including some custom Freaks like the "Bone Nurse" and "Juice Nurse" and "Hello Nurse". I think that's it. The sendoff said that there was a tough EB, but the leader was only a boss. 4) Off to a lake to smash some coral spires. Another custom group! 5) And now to save the world. Into the leviathan caves map, where we join up with Elizabeth and Barracuda, and pummel Calystix the Shaper. (minor bug: the nav bar for Barracuda said 'rescue Elizabeth'.) The sendoff warned me that Calystix was really hard, but I didn't have much trouble. Afterwards, we find that the mystery client was in fact Barracuda, who is working to find the truth about the coral. It does seem a bit odd that Barracuda had access to time travel, but maybe she bribed the Project DESTINY techs with some sushi or something. Save the Diver, Save the World is another great arc, with lots of excellent writing and just-right difficulty.

Interesting. Like I said in the review, normally I advise against using that map because it's confusing and the caves are hard to find. When I played it, however, there was a waypoint pointing me to the cave door.

Another month, another scramble to make rent. None of the Malta troops that Kyksie 'arrested' had any cash on them, so she calls up an old contact who tells her that Lt. Col. Flynn has some work all the way out in the Shadow Shard. 1) Arriving at Mole Point Charlie via portal, Flynn tells Kyksie that a new Hortha Vine had just opened up, so naturally he sent some troops through, but then it closed, so now he needs a brave hero to investigate. Fortunately they had a sort of dimensional GPS thingy, so Kyksie is able to track them to a cave. There she encounters the "Rularularian", a nicely done custom group. They all wear Nemesis unforms, but none have change in their pockets either. We rescue the captives, including Dr. Huxley. 2) We rescue more captives. The Rularutians can control Shadow Shard reflections, interesting. Sara Moore is investigating their history, but Kyksie taps her foot, eager to get paid. 3) The Rularutarians are attacking City Hall! Kyksie jumps in and defeats the invasion, led by "Angie the Mad". Yes, this is kinda of an odd name for a villain, like "Norbert the Terrible" or "Melvin the Flatulent", but we'll see why it fits, read on. 4) The scientists have discovered that the Rularutarians are the descendants of people from Paragon, who were stranded in the Shadow Shard when Hero One closed the dimensional portal. They have formed several independent city-states, and one is willing to sign a truce. Kyksie just wants to get her payment and go, but Flynn tell her to meet with their leader. This mission is set in the Shadow Shard map with the big factory thing in the center and caves along the sides. Normally I recommend against using this map because the caves are confusing and hard to see, but here we get an objective marker showing you the way. Plenty of non-required clues add atmosphere. 5) Most of the city-states have agreed to join with us, but their leader "the five" needs to be stopped. I won't spoil the plot twist here. We go into the Statesman map, get a bunch of allies, and defeat a bunch of guys like "William the Conqueror" and "Becky the Litterbug". See, they got those names because they come from normal people! We defeat the five, and the rest of the Rularutians decide to rejoin us. Everyone hugs, and Flynn authorizes payment plus a bonus. No secondhand tampons for Kyksie this month! Rularularian is another perfect arc, with top-notch writing, lots of atmosphere, and no time wasting. Everyone go play it.

I played through this a few months ago and intended to review it but it somehow got lost. Suffice it to say that this is a top-notch arc that hits all the right notes; excellent writing, an interesting custom group, no kill-alls, no tedious glowie hunts, no overpowered bosses. Everyone who enjoys a good story should play this.

The contact is Null the Gull, which scores points for originality if nothing else. He says that, in the 'real' world, the group Outkast was filming a video, when a portal appeared and sucked them into Paragon City. That's right, Null is explicitly speaking to the person sitting behind the keyboard surrounded by Hot Pocket sleeves and Cheeto wrappers. 1) Apparently when OutKast arrived here, the first person they encountered was Frostfire, and they own the rights to the name "OutKast", so... they're suing the Outcasts? Again, points added for originality. The player ventures into an office where Outcasts and PPD are fighting, clobbers Frostfire, rescues a lawyer and meets the guys. Oddly, the PPD are also hostile to the player. Here, a problem arises; the level range. the first two levels are capped at 15, but the last are at set to 50. I tried to run this with my controller, but she had no chance against boss-level Frostfire while reduced to 15, so I had to switch to my Stalker, Super Sneaky. He's really sneaky. 2) The Skulls are trying to murder OutKast for some reason, so we stop them by going to a rave and collecting seven boxes. While waiting for the map to load, I Googled OutKast and found out they're a "hip-hop" group, which I think means they spend their time drinking "forties" and having "diss battles" with other hip-hop groups. 3) Now things are getting even weirder... OutKast (which is two guys) both have the hots for Ms. Liberty, so they're trying to woo her by throwing a concert in Atlas Park. The player arrives at the 'Party in Atlas' map, which fits well here. We rescue the dudes, beat up Back Alley Brawler for some reason, then pummel two dudes named "Lovebox" and "Speakers Down Below", or something like that. We also rescue Ms. Liberty, which is a bit awkward because Super Sneaky and Ms. Liberty have, uh, history. 4) Now OutKast is shooting a video with Carnies, which the player has to stop. We rescue some guys, smash some equipment, and clobber Vanessa DeVore. 5) Lord Recluse found out about them and wants them for "bad intentions", so we need to send them back to our world. Sneaky sneaks off to the Portal Corp map, rescues the dudes, clobbers Scirocco, and activates the portal to send them back here. In a nice touch, the sendoff happens in the final room of the map (you know, the Shadow one for the Maria Jenkins arc) which has the big portal. Like the previous arc by this author, this is a hard map to rate. The premise is really wacky (in a good way), several unique maps are used creatively, and fans of OutKast should enjoy this, assuming they're not too busy smoking "blunts" and drinking "purple". On the downside, the level range is a problem. The arc contains several tough EBs who require a strong character to solo, probably a 50. However, the first two maps force you to level 15, which is a pain. Characters who have been respeced may be completely unable to function at that level. There's also some grammar errors, although not as many as the last arc. Still, assuming you like offbeat stuff and don't mind fourth wall breaking, give this a try.

Have I become the board's resident AE reviewer? I'd be glad to write a review for this, but maybe make a new thread for it. I should mention I can see a big problem right away... the level range. People will be reduced to 14 in the early missions and forced up to 50 in the last one. That tends to be not fun.

AE files are saved locally as a textfile, run it through a spell checker.

The first three missions are set to 20-54, but the last ones are 50-54. In order to see the aforementioned bosses, I set it to x4 and used Spider-Kitty again. "Meow," she said, slugging back a double Maker's Mark at the bar before heading off to the AE branch in Pocket D. (because, you know, she's a cat. cats meow a lot). 1) The contact, Mirror Spirit, tell me that Countess Crey has teamed up with Vanessa Devore to create animated toys powered by magic. It's a wacky premise, but it works well in a four color world. Spider-Kitty meows into a toy store and encounters the "Micronauts", who are human sized toys. There are at least a dozen, all with well written bios, although it gets weird in places. (the Night Widow toy is "perfect for feminists", huh???) The mission is a defeat all, but I'll forgive that because the map is small. Kitty finds sales receipts showing that sales have gone up 10%, oh no! 2) We need to stop the production, so Kitty busts into a warehouse and smashes some crates. Fifteen crates. We also get a story about how the Countess blackmails Manticore and sells his arrows or something. 3) The toys are powered by magic, so we need to get countermagic, which happen to be Animus Arcana. Also a bit about Black Scorpion. 4) Now we need to rescue the hostages who are being used to magically power the toys. There's ten of them, plus a clone of the player. "Meow", says Spider-Kitty as she puts down her feline counterpart. She's used to this by now. 5) Now to put an end to the foul scheme; Kitty meows onto a cargo ship, and clobbers Manticore, Scorpion, Vanessa and the Countess, and smashes fourteen crates. This is a tough arc to rate. The premise is a great one, and it's executed well; the custom group is well made, with copiously written bios, and the varied powers make for fun fights. On the downside, the arc suffers from Objective Overload. Fifteen crates, then six spells, then ten hostages, then fourteen crates. That's too much; it shifts focus away from the storytelling and into tedium. Like, if you're reading a fanfic starring Spider-Kitty, Mynx and Bobcat, and it goes "Mynx meowed, then Spider-Kitty said 'meow', then Bobcat rolled over lazily and meowed, then Mynx meowed again, then..." People don't want to get bogged down in that, they want to read about Mynx and Bobcat... uh... doing stuff. The biggest problem, however, is the spelling and grammar. It reads like a first draft that was never proofread. Seriously, there's at least one spelling error in every paragraph. Please, people give your stories at least one pass before submitting them for review. With half as many crates and a run through a spellchecker, When Two Worlds Work Together has the potential to be a winner.

I don't have a character I can test this on, but if I remember from Live, this problem also occurs on MM > Dark Miasma > Darkest Night.

In back of the house was a wood, tall stands of old oak with bushy shrubs over a thick moss floor. In a clearing stood the Doll, spade in one hand, brushing dirt off her brow with the other. No, not the Doll. That was not right. She was Real; she should have a name. She thought back to the books that lined the Nursery. A book of fables; a statue that had also come to life. The grim job done, Galatea began walking, slowly, out of the wood, down the road. Many hours passed, then she was in the City, then she was in the old place, the first place. There were others; they were not Real, but some followed her anyway. Further on, she came across a Man. The Man had taken what was once alive, then was not; he tried to make it real again, but nature abhors such things. The Man asked her for help, and she agreed. 1) The contact is Godwin Blaire, a Vahzilok Reaper, who says that someone else is doing the same thing as the Vahzilok are, but the other guy is even less nice. Seeking information, Galatea and her squad of not-quite-reals bust into a warehouse and encounter the "Anomaly". who look like Vahzilok zombies, but smell even worse. After pummeling them, she finds a machine entitled "bwah", which appears to transform corpses into zombies automatically. 2) Godwin joins us in the unique warehouse used in the Snake arc, wherein we bust heads and find a copy of Dr. Vahzilok's book, "All Flesh Must Be Eaten". 3) Dr. Vahzilok has been kidnapped, so of course we need to rescue him. Off to the "mad science in the sewers" map, where we find the doctor and then beat the head badguy, who is a necro/nature boss. He uses Carrion Creepers, which prevent the mission from ending until the effect ends. Anomaly is a nice, short, well written arc. Give it a shot.

Hey, kids! Welcome to another thrilling episode of the Freedom Phalanx Power Hour, featuring Paragon's favorite hero, Incredible Man, and his high-kicking sidekick, Kyksie! Join us for a full hour of intergalactic adventures and crime-busting fun! ...is what you would have heard if you had tuned in six months ago. Now, after she "left to pursue other opportunities", Kyksie is scrambling to find ways to make rent. Cutting the ribbon at Mad Mike's Mattress Mayhem didn't pay enough, so now she's doing odd jobs for various Rogue Isles types, this time Psimon Omega. Psimon has discovered that some Freaks have psychic powers, and he can't allow this, so he sends Kyksie to investigate. She encounters the "Psychic Freakshow", a custom group with with about half a dozen types plus a few regular Freaks thrown in. The Freaks have some kind of cybernetic implant which gives them the ability to read tarot cards or something. Kyksie decides to betray Psimon and take the tech for herself, so she steals it, then blows up a warehouse, then pummels Psimon, then discovers that the tech is from a woman named "Braintease", so she pummels her too. Both are only boss level, so no major challenge. After selling the tech, Kyksie not only has enough money for this month's rent, but for an actual hot meal at Major Flanders instead of hanging around back as they close. The Psimon Omega SF is a decent story, although not really remarkable. The only real complaint I could raise is that it hijacks the character's inner monologue; that is, it tells you what your character is thinking. The arc states up front that it's for villains, but still, there are no doubt players whose character possesses a code of honor that forbids them from breaking their word even to villains. Other characters are cyborgs who would keep the tech and implant it into themselves, while others are techno-organic aliens who would adopt the implants and raise them as their own, enrolling them in a boarding school for lost implants until they're old enough to get jobs as alarm clocks or blenders.

Sensing a electrical disturbance in neighboring Steel Canyon, Synapse gathered together eight heroes to investigate. They battled through a warehouse of bizarre but deadly wind-up robots, then another, and another. And another, and another, and... there were a lot of robots, is the takeaway here. But at long last, the evil Clockwork King was vanquished, and the heroes gathered around Synapse, tired but exuberant. All this happened, more or less. Princess Punchy went off to train, while Hot Prick and Lady Blackstar slowly walked off to his base, hand in hand. Mystress Yiffstress smiled at Synapse, who met her gaze, and soon the two were in a disused restroom in the basement of the nearby hospital. Less than two minutes later, however, the restroom door opened again. "So, um..." "Hey, it's no biggie." "But..." "T'sokay. I mean, you are the fastest man alive, right? Comes with the territory." 1) Synapse has decided that being super fast has some, uh, disadvantages, so he wants to go back in time and prevent Crey from doing the experiment that gave him super speed. Because he has access to Ouroboros from attending Manticore's wedding (really), Synapse jumps back in time and bonks the Crey scientists on the head, then returns to the present and is surprised to find that things have changed, so he asks Mystress Yiffstress to accompany him to see Manticore. At this point I need to mention that the player did not, in fact, go back in time for Crey-bonking. All that happened in dialog. The mission itself consists of the player arriving at the Manticore's Merry Mansion map, meeting a depowered Steven Berry (that's Synapse), then meeting with Manticore who attacks you because he doesn't know you, then speaking with Manti afterwards, who gives you an infodump on how a whole bunch of stuff is different. Gee, turns out that going back in time and making changes can affect the present! Whooda thunk it? 2) Indigo has been kidnapped, so Mystress goes into a warehouse filled with Battle Maiden's troops, meets up with Crimson, then rescues Indigo. We exit the missions and... This guy's style of storytelling seriously rubs me the wrong way. People want to do stuff, not be told they did stuff. Like, for the Penelope Yin TF, imagine if you clicked Penny and text appeared saying "You clobber some Freakshow, then more Freakshow, then some Council, then defeat Clamor and save the day. Here's some merits." And that bit is even worse, like if you completed Penny but a popup after the last mission said "Oops someone sneezed on the sonic device and it destroyed all of Paragon. You suck." 3) We need to rescue Dr. Aeon from the Circle for some reason, so we yiff into the Infernal map, pummel the Baphomet EB who summons swarm of demons, and rescue Aeon, who gives us another infodump, then... ...sigh. 4) Now we need to rescue Statesman from Crey, so we go to a lab that's filled with Malta, find him and three heroes, then defeat a security guard who is a Warwork and summons huge waves of Malta ambushes. Yiffstress and her swarm of fluffy, cuddly beasts are unable to take down the huge swarms of Malta, so I log off and switch to Spider-Kitty, slog through the previous waves and take care of business. This should give you some idea of the lengths I go to provide quality AE reviews, and should not be taken to mean that I spend sixteen hours a day in front of the computer playing CoX and swilling Night Train, honest. Oh yeah, did I mention that you have to lead Statesman back through five floors to the exit? Yeah. That mission did have one bright spot; before being repeatedly obliterated by the massive Malta ambush, Mystress Yiffstress got a Fury of the Gladiator -res proc as a drop. Back on the Live server, that recipe consistently sold for two BILLION at the auction house. And that's only because 2 billion is the most a player can have, so it would have sold for more if that were possible. Apparently the people at The Secret Server That No One Knows About were responsible for this change, so thanks guys. 5) Statesman can't help us, so it's up to me to finish the war (what war?). Off to the destroyed Atlas map, with three heroes as allies and eight to beat. Most are EBs, but Malaise is Hero class, making him pretty much impossible for non-Incarnates to solo. At the end, Synapse goes back in time again and hits the History Eraser Button, returning everything back to normal. This arc has big problems. First of all, the dialog is very blah, with no quotes or indents. The writing is incredibly exposition heavy, with the player told 'this happened' more often than doing stuff. On top of that, there's a lot of spelling errors, and I mean a LOT. The gameplay has problems too, with several very tough spots. Finally, Synapse and the player are forced to carry the Idiot Ball, with both seemingly surprised that going back in time will change the present. About the only good thing about this arc is that the mobs have a chance to drop PvP recipes.

Emmert had some great ideas, but he also had a very poor grasp of what players want. I mean, at launch. Adrenaline Boost stunned the user for 20 seconds? And Elude left you unable to attack for two minutes? Who would possible enjoy that? And yeah... Dean McArthur was awesome (especially how he hits on female chars) but Who Will Die sucked a big one. It should have been a player villain who killed Statesman, not a two-bit nobody.

Or if not that, just allow Banes to fire Venom Grenade from the mace. My Bane on Live *would* have been viable if not for that. Well, maybe not viable, but at least not horrible.

I've been following City of Titans from the start, and it's quite obvious that they really do want to create a true spiritual successor. If they were going to spend the Kickstarter money on hookers and blow they would have done so long ago. Sadly, I strongly doubt their ability to actually do it.

I dunno. In one of the AMAs I asked Matt Miller if killing Stateman was a way of extending the middle finger to Emmert, and he said "no, not at all".

At 11 the next morning, Spider-Kitty rolls out of bed with a whiskey headache. She washes down two aspirin with a shot of Maker's Mark, then follows it with a quart of milk and some sardines. Feeling slightly closer to normal, Kitty thumbs her phone and reads a text from Kitty Rubyice. Sighing, she swallows another slug of whiskey and leaps off. 1) Kitty Rubyice has decided that there are probably more copies of the Angel Cats in other dimensions, let's go get them! We jump into the dimensional transporter that everyone in Paragon seems to have, and find ourselves in an alternate Paragon, which has slightly less Starbucks than our own. The mobs are a custom group called the 'corrupted', with about half a dozen types, all pink. We find the copy of Kitty Rubyice, and also Athena Bladeburn, who has SOME FEELINGS for Rubyice, huh huh huh. There's also Kitt Katsu, frantically eating candy bars to give her luck in the upcoming battle, and Agent Cutie, who is cute. All are catgirls. Also some bikini-clad enemy girls named ???, don't ask why. Then, we encounter Mike's Giant Robot, which is a very big robot. Even with four allies, players who aren't as awesome as Spider-Kitty might have problems. 2) Now we need to defend the hq from attack. Off to the PPD map to defuse bombs. Interestingly, that map has a glitch which prevents the mission from completing until we take the elevator. 3) And now to capture Mike, who might want to consider a more ominious-sounding villain name, like "Robomike" or "Ultramike". We hook up with the four allies from the first mission (no not that kind of hook up) and them pummel Mike, who isn't too hard. When the fight is over, two of the allies turn on us, although the mission is over so it doesn't matter. Afterwards Kitty Rubyice tells us that SuperMegaMike has decided to join us in our fight against the Entity. I'm kidding, it's still just Mike.

1) The contact tells me I need to test a simulation or something. Upon receiving her fee of $25K wired to her Swiss bank account and a pallet of tuna, Spider-Kitty enters the Matrix and encounters a bunch of dudes named after chess pieces, with no bios. Oh no, they escaped out to Atlas! 2) Off to clean up the mess in Atlas, which consists of more of those guys plus a Arachnos Flyer and the Clockwork Paladin. The flyer isn't too hard to beat (and it yields 6 merits) however the Paladin is impossible to solo. Spider-Kitty summons her Lore pets and spams Envenomed Dagger, but still can't get the monstrosity below 50% health. Even meowing a perfect 2600hz won't stop it. "Wouldn't You Prefer a Nice Game of Chess?" is probably a nice way for teams to test themselves; however, never in the history of Resurgence has a team ever gone to AE for anything other than farming or Mynx's Furry Adventure.

"Six of the eight emitters have been installed and tested." The Arachnos tech spoke slowly and carefully. "The remaining two will be fitted by tomorrow at the latest." He faced Black Scorpion, even though Ernesto wasn't really paying attention, eyeing a YouTube video playing on a small screen in his armor. Only the high ranking or the foolish spoke directly to the real leader of Arachnos. Lord Recluse reclined in his chair on a small dais at the end of the conference room, at the very top of the vast steel tower that dominated Grandville. Black Scorpion, Scirocco, Mako and Ghost Widow each had their own corner, several attendants surrounding each. Recluse himself was accompanied by three cats, one on his lap, the others lounging on cushions at his feet. Like their master, they stared intently at the empty air in the center of the chamber, favoring no one. Arbiter Fluffy, Arbiter Blacktail, and Arbiter Snuggles were the sleekest, shiniest cats in all of the Rogue Isles. They were also the most terrified. ----------------------------------- It had happened less than three years ago. Project DESTINY was nearing completion; spirits in the vast tower were unusually high. Lord Recluse strode from the command center to his study, gazed at the cats purring serenely along the periphery, then pulled the chair back from his desk. He scanned the piles of paperwork, his coffee mug off to the side... then paused. A glance at the carpet, deep blue pinstripe, then at the cats lounging on the couch, then back at the carpet. A dark oval stain, less than a foot in diameter. A faint smell of ammonia in the air. Recluse stared at the cats again, more intently. Fluffy slept contentedly, Blacktail looked back at him lazily... there. A tiny flash of guilt in Arbiter Fuzzypaws's eyes. Guilt and fear. Most cat owners would merely scold the offending feline; the harsher ones would turn it loose on the streets, a few of the truly heartless would donate it to a Tsoo restaurant. Not Lord Recluse. The ruler of the Rogue Isles held himself to a higher standard; he knew that the only true way to rule was by fear, and that fear must be absolute, with no exceptions for fur and tails. Each and every subject must know that to cross Lord Recluse would not end in imprisonment, torture, or even death; those were for lesser rulers. No, to fall beneath Lord Recluse's feet meant a fate worse than death; he would twist his former foes into a cruel mockery of their former lives, transformed into the very thing they despise. Gripped by the scruff of her neck, Recluse first took Fuzzypaws to Vernon von Grun, who injected her with a huge dose of growth serum derived from the Devouring Earth. Strapped to a bed and force-fed nutrients, she grew four feet in one agonizing week, muscles and tendons screaming in agony. Then, the cybernetic backpack was grafted to her spine, four metal claws fitted with blasters arching above her head. When she was barely able to walk, Fuzzypaws was drafted into the ranks of Arachnos's most feared soldiers, the Crab Spiders. Months of brutal training followed, forced marches, workouts, endless weapon drills, lectures on battlefield tactics and strategy. They final insult came upon graduation, when Fuzzypaws was denied entry into the Crab Spider corps, but instead was turned loose upon the pitiless streets of Mercy Island. Taking the name Spider-Kitty, she fell into the life of a two-bit villain, fighting the Infected, Longbow and other villains for discarded scraps of tuna and bits of string. But she persevered. In the months that followed, Spider-Kitty clawed her way up the ranks of Rogue Isle's villains, working schemes for Mr. Bocor and Peter Themari, then robbing banks in Paragon City, finally taking on odd jobs for Arachnos operatives like Viridian and Shadow Spider. When she reached the highest Security Level, Recluse himself tried to use her to complete Project DESTINY, but she broke away, defeating him in the future and bringing back his bloodstained helm. Recluse gazed at his former pet unflinchingly, an evil grin flowing like mercury. "And it is done." And it was. Beneath the scorching sky, at the feet of the vast statue in Grandville square, Spider-Kitty realized that Arbiter Fuzzypaws was truly gone. Less than a year ago, a fat, lazy bundle of fur had purred for table scraps; today, she was a tall, muscular figure without a speck of fat, scarred by countless battles, hard eyes scanning the concrete square for her next meal. And yet, there was no time to curl up and rest. Her phone rang with an urgent growl, a ringtone she reserved for contacts with potentially world-ending scenarios. Kitty listened for a minute, then hung up silently. After purchasing a handful of hotdogs from a terrified street vendor, she leapt into the air and was gone. Moonstar ULTIMATE: Part 2 1) Spider-Kitty has been contacted by Sonic, an old acquaintance from her garbage diving days back on Mercy. Except that this is Future Sonic... from the future. Celeste and Sparkle have brought back people to help them against Dr. Nova, but we now need to find and resurrect Negative Sonic, who is like Sonic, but negative. "Meow," Spider-Kitty replies, squaring her shoulders. We venture into some caves and rescue Xena the warrior princess, and also Katt Rubyice, winner of the COSMIC CLONE WAR. Then we scoop all of Sonic's body parts and glue them together with paste and chewing gum, and Negative Sonic is reborn! Except he won't help us and wants revenge. Oops. 2) Now we need to tunnel into Shadow's empire to capture Negative Sonic. We find the security system and encounter Tails... no, it's Evil Tails... no, it's Evil Tails FROM THE FUTURE! There's also a custom group called the "Corrupted", who have about half a dozen types with varied costumes and powers. There's also some IDF, which feels a bit odd. We destroy Shadow's ship (an Arachnos Flier, which gives Reward Merits when beaten) but Negative Sonic gets away. 3) Now there's a world is filled with baddies, time for pummeling. We pummel a bunch of "blacklighters", who are another custom group with costumes and unique powers. We rescue Future Blaze and Future Marine, both catgirls. "Meow!" they smile; but Spider-Kitty continues to scan the horizon, eyes hard and cold. "Meow." is all she says. Negative Sonic is in the back room of City Hall, maybe taking a whiz or something, but he gets away again! 4) Negative Sonic is looking for something, what could it be? Off to a forest, where we find Cherry and Sapphire and Sky, catgirls who think I'm their dad? Also they have a crippling catnip addiction or something. Negative Sonic is there and he gets away again. The whole arc would have been shorter if we had just brought along a reliable hedgehog net. 5) Now we need to really, really capture Negative Sonic, so we can find other Incarnates willing to fight against THE ENTITY. Wait, what? The entity? Is this like Auntie Entity from Mad Max? Should I bring extra cans of gas along? Spider-Kitty returns to the forest and a horrible sight meets her eyes. It's her... and yet it isn't. A clone of her, spider-claws grafted to it's back, clad in a garish yellow copy of Kitty's party dress, the one she stole from the bargain rack at Wal-Mart so many years ago. Their gazes meet, and at once Spider-Kitty sees the pain in her clone's eyes; thrust into existence mere hours ago, the neural interface digging into her spine. "Meow," the clone gasps, bowing her head. Spider Kitty takes a hard breath, takes careful aim, and ends the clone's suffering with a single blaster shot. "Meow." she sighs, thumb white on the trigger. Striding grimly through the dark forest, she frees Cherry, Sky, and Sapphire, young catgirls not yet stained by the struggles ahead. Another clone appears, identical to the first; again, Kitty puts it out of it's misery. Then another. And another. Her eyes become hard, cold slits as kitty corpses pile up. She joins Sonic and Shadow, then the three corner Negative Sonic and finish him off at last, then smash his cloning machine. When they return, Future Sonic is excited about the new allies against the mysterious Entity, but Spider-Kitty has already left for her secret base, to drown her pain in Jack Daniels and sardines. Moonstar ULTIMATE: Part 2 presents a dark, brutal tale of one feline's struggle to defeat an impossible foe without falling to the darkness within. Despite a few minor flaws (no contact bio, a few spelling errors) this tells a compelling story that everyone should play.

During Live, a GM once transformed players into a bunch of different models, one being the Avatar of Hamidon. The engine handled it poorly; the camera was inside the model, and it jerked around wildly when on uneven terrain.

With the latest revision, Spectral Eclipse: Origin becomes the next Great American Novel. The protagonist receives a desperate message from a dying Spectral Eclipse, warning of the imminent resurrection of his arch-nemesis, Bologna Man. The player ventures into a war-torn hellscape, where vanquished Praetorian soldiers fight desperately against the ghostly remains of the dying army. Small groups of military specialists roam the field, beholden to no one, frantically trying to determine which forces pose the greatest threat. The player shuts down five portals, then destroys a malign Shadow Cyst, but in a shocking twist the player is infected with an unknown parasite, bending him to the entity's will. Now, the player is tasked with capturing five civilians and transporting them to the cyst, where their souls are extracted and used to fuel Bologna's resurrection. A series of clues chronicles the protagonist's inner struggle against the alien mind control, desperately pitting his last scraps of humanity against the insatiable hunger of an aeons-old beast. As the last man's soul is consumed and the ancient god reawakens, Spectral Eclipse: Origins becomes a dark mirror reflecting the harsh truth of the human condition, wherein- Ha ha ha who am I kidding, it's still a raging dumpster fire. Terrible grammar and spelling, sparse detail, no real story. The only real change is that there are now five glowies and five hostages instead of one each, making the arc five times as tedious. Stay away.