Kyksie

More Tsoo Shenanigans - 44446 The contact is Azuria (her bio pokes fun at how she loses stuff) who tells the player she's been having disturbing visions regarding the Hellions. Kyksie is booked cutting the ribbon at the new Woodvale branch of Paragon Pizza Pie ("We gave Hami an offer he couldn't refuse!") so she phones yet another of her associates... So, this chick Azuria can hook me up? Sweet. She gives me the address where some Hellions are dealing, but instead of regular Hellions, it's a custom group, "Defeated Hellions". Except they're not really defeated, they attack me instead of showing me the goods. The boss, Hellflame, tells be the Tsoo already came and bogarted their stash. So Azuria gives me another address, and I go punch more Hellions, and some Tsoo are there too so I punch them. Except that I can see right through the Tsoo! This is good stuff. But now we need to find out where the Hellions keep their stash, so I sneak into a warehouse and smear lipstick on some crates or something. Then we find that they loaded the goods onto a cargo ship, so we head out to the docks and punch more dudes. I need to find a tracking beacon that's hidden in a body bag, but it's nowhere to be found. I look in every last place, finally scouring the concrete floor of the drydock... ...wait, what's that... The bag is invisible... until it isn't. This is, like, really good stuff. Finally, the Hellions are doing some Real Bad Things, so I bust into (wait for it) a warehouse, smash some obelisks, punch some Hellions and eat their Doritos. The day is saved, I guess. Azuria wants me to stay and debrief, but I have to catch the monorail to Skyway before the El Super Mexicano closes and Hector goes home.

Match Point - 44239 What can I say... another masterful AE from one of the great ones. Six months after being betrayed in their quest to bring down Kirk Cage, the player has finally pieced together enough clues to take action. First you track down Malloy and have a little talk while dodging kill squads, then infiltrate yet another Mafia pasta-eating contest for some pugilistic interrogation. Then you track down and clobber Protean, for whom the author wisely used a custom NPC, and not the in-game Protean, who has an obscenely powerful end drain which makes him almost impossible to solo. Then the player meets up with a really well done NPC named Juan Jiminez, the "Devil of King's Row". I think he's an original character, I can't recall seeing him ingame. We bust into a warehouse and blow up some trucks. It's a defeat all, but the map is small and it fits in with the plot ("leave no witnesses"). Amusingly, one of the trucks was on top of a shipping crate. Finally, we track down and clobber the guy responsible, who has a plausible background and motivation, a nod to Marvel's Daredevil. Yet another great arc, with top-notch writing, tons of clues and details, and no time wasters. Go play it.

I suppose we can chalk this up to a lack of communication. The arc was advertised as a challenge arc, wherein one is pitted against tough mobs, so I came in expecting to succeed by hammering through with a powerful character. If the arc advertisement had said "If you click the wrong glowie you will fail" I would have been prepared for that. Nonetheless, I stand by what I said earlier. Forcing the player to stand around and do nothing for 99 seconds is not acceptable under any circumstances.

User Unreachable - 44217 The contact is named Lukas, who tells you that his friend Gina has become stuck in a virtual reality, except that this time it's some kind of pocket dimension or something, and it's malfunctioning, so you need to go in and get her out. This is a bit of a cliche, but oh well. We hop in and punch some mobs from a custom group called "prototypes" who are training dummies or something. Then, we need to go clear her browser history or something. There's a pretty tough EB here, but the posting for the arc gave fair warning, so I brought a powerful Widow and was able to beat him without much effort. Now I need to go update her user permissions or something, I dunno. The mission has a five minute timer, which would normally be a no-no, but the map is very small. I stealth over to the glowie and... WTF? The time for the interact bar is ninety-nine seconds. Remember how time-wasters are my biggest pet peeve? Yeah. Don't do this. And then, after the timer bar finally ticks down... Sorry, your file is in another glowie. I find another and make with the clicking... another ninety-nine seconds, making it impossible to finish in the allotted five minutes. Mission failed. But Lukas found a backup file in the pocket of her jeggings, so now I need to go back and restore her Apache Subversion files... hell, I have no idea at this point. Back in, and... oh joy, it's a defeat all, with an escort and two defends thrown in. I start slogging through the mobs, rescue Gina, defeat the EB boss again and... the mission abruptly fails with no explanation. User Unreachable sucks. I have no problems with challenging mobs when warned about them, but when you take multiple egregious time wasters, add an unwinnable mission, and layer it on top of a cliched story, you get a big pile of poo.

A Super Deadly Vendetta - 33696 This is nice, with a very well written contact named Emily Dallas as a sort of hacker girl who has a grudge against the Skulls; the arc fits in very well with the canon missions. The player fights against a custom group of Skulls, which allow the character to play this at level 30 instead of the usual 20 for Skulls. There are even "Super Skulls" as tough bosses (missing an opportunity for a pun on "Super Skrull", but eh.) Emily's dialog is excellent throughout. The problem here is the difficulty. The player faces Deadlock, then Veles as an EB, then Veles again. The first two fights are very hard, with the player reduced to level 30 and the mobs summoning ambush waves. The final fight has Veles as a fully powered Dark Melee/something, which gives him a fear attack and a powerful life drain attack, and all his attacks debuff accuracy. I was unable to beat him twice despite a big handful of inspirations each time. Hilariously, the arc sendoff said to play this with archvillains on for a "more accurate" playthrough. Once again, people... be careful putting EBs in, doubly so if the player is reduced in level, and don't just add ambush waves willy-nilly. There's also a sequel called "The Mystery of Morana", which has a pretty good plot that I won't spoil here. It was also hard, although not quite as hard as the previous one. Strange Signals: Radio Liberty - 43693 This has an interesting premise; the player stumbles on a radio playing music by D.J. Donnerblitzen or something, and in between songs he plays resistance chatter from another dimension, kinda like Man in the High Castle, except that the player can do something about it by heading off to punch Nazis. It's a fun idea that works well. However, the writing is... bad. Really bad. I'm going to be charitable and assume it was done in a hurry; after a few review passes, this could be pretty good.

Cage Match - 43425 Kathryn Walker was a middle child, sandwiched between two overachieving brothers in a bright, shiny suburb of Providence, her adolescence a whirl of soccer practice and backyard parties. At eighteen, she didn't enroll so much as wander into Providence Rhode Island Community College, with a major in partying and a minor in binge drinking. Far too many of her nights were spent in a drunken haze at the fraternities and sororities at neighboring Paragon U. One evening, following an incident at the Advanced Physics department involving an irrational particle accelerator, a few joints, and a pair of purple hair scrunchies, Kathryn woke up with purple skin, hair and glowing purple eyes. The precise details are not important because no one has ever managed to duplicate the exact circumstances under which it happened, and many people have ended up looking very silly, or dead, or both, trying. Soon after, she discovered that she could generate 'purple energy' from her hands, eyes and other parts. The scientists at SERAPH ran a few tests, then shrugged. Discovering a wholly new form of energy was old hat to them, and stories about lab accidents happened every day. With few career paths open to Purple People, Kathryn registered as a hero, taking the name "Purple Lovin'" at the suggestion of the registry clerk, who had partied with her at PRICC earlier that month. Able to use Purple Energy to both protect her and knock out foes, she rose quickly in Security Levels. One day, she joined Kyksie on a task force for Penelope Yin. Kyksie was taken by how intently she attacked the Freaks and Council, more so by how she attacked several Long island Iced Teas at the bar afterwards. "So..." Purple burped, wiping her chin with the back of her robe, "Those Council guys were Nazis? Like really Nazis?" "That's right." Kyksie sipped a tall veggie shake. "Straight from the second world war." "Like the guys who burn stacks of tires down in King's Row?" "No, those are neo-Nazis. They came later." "The original Nazis didn't burn tires and drink Natty Light?" "Yeah. No. Whatever." "They did?" "I, uh..." Having reached the end of her shake, Kyksie looks around Capetini's, hoping to find a distraction. "Yeah. I guess." "And those 'Freakshow' guys. They really cut off their own hands and replaced them with hammers and buzzsaws?" "Yep." "That must be kinda hard at times." "You don't say." "Like when they have to go pee. How do-" "Right. Pee. Is what I have to do. Now." Hopping off the stool, Kyksie fished a twenty from the back pocket of her gi, pushed it across the bar and headed for the door. "The restroom is over th-" "Weren't you briefed? Heroes always do it from the rooftops. Just ask Batman." Kyksie slipped out the side door and super-leaped into the warm September evening, desperate to escape Purple's vortex of stupidity. She certainly wasn't the first person to worry that the power of a small nuclear reactor was in the hands of Paragon's biggest ditz. The two didn't cross paths for several months, until last week, when Kyksie got a call from Iron Widow requesting her aid on a weekend in which she was already double booked. Stoner Dude was busy, Guy Montag wouldn't answer his texts, and Mystress Yiffstress was on a weekend retreat with the League of Extraordinary Yiffers. Sighing, Kyksie thumbed her phone and called the name at the very bottom of the list. So the contact is this "Iron Widow", and she starts out by telling me there's more to being a hero than "doing the right thing". Well, duh! I didn't get to be security level 50 without knowing a few things, you know. Being a hero means talking to your contact, blasting the badguys, then finding a new contact. That's three things right there. Oh, and free drinks afterward! At least at Pocket D. Those fuddy-duddies down at the Rusty Rivet keep shutting me down after four. Pfffft. Anyway, this Iron Widow says we're going after Kirk Cage. I saw him on Fox News a few times, something about strikers and fair working conditions, whatever. I think he's rich or something. But anyway, this Widow person doesn't send me to blast Cage, I have to free some allies, Sea Witch and Spinnerette, and there's already an ally named Kazan there. So why do we need more? I dunno. Then we go rescue Cage's daughter Crash from the Circle of Thorns. Apparently she's angry at her father and because of that has been hanging around mages learning magic and grafting coral to her hands. I try to tell her that wearing black and promiscuous sex are easier ways to rebel, but she just shrugs. Now we have to go pick up one Vinny Dubowski. We went to a huge cargo ship, blast a few guys and find Vinny, playing poker with a few deckhands across a cargo crate. "Hi! I'm Purple Lovin'. I'm here to rescue you! Or kidnap you." "Which one?" "I forget." Vinny shrugs. "Get back to me when you remember." "Okay." I spend a few minutes thinking, then come to a realization. "But, either way, you come with me, right? So it doesn't really matter which one." "Good point," Vinnie burps. He gets up and begins following me back across the ship. But then- get this- in an access corridor halfway through, he spies a loop of pipe protruding from the wall and jumps across the pipe and lodges himself in the space between it and the wall! "A-ha!" Vincent shouts triumphantly. "I'm going to stand right here and not move!" "You can't do that!" "Yes I can." "No you can't!" "I just did." I tried running up the corridor, then back down. Then back the other way, then back again. Then I hovered in the air for a while, then, after an intense burst of thought, went back down the corridor the first way while still hovering. Nothing! Then I tried holding my breath, then bribing Vinny with a half-eaten Payday bar in my back pocket. He just wouldn't move! Grrrr! So finally I just flew outside the ship, perched on the bow and smoked a joint. Twenty-five minutes later, the mission timer ran out, and suddenly we were both standing in the secret hideout. "How'ja do that?" Vinny sputtered. "Ancient Oriental secret." Heck, I have no idea. Then we kidnap Cage's wife... or was that a rescue? No, that was totally a kidnap. But then things go bad and we have to blast some guys, which I totally do, cuz blasting stuff is what I'm best at! That's what all the trainers say. Cage got away, and Widow says it wasn't about him, but at least I get paid, so off to Pocket D! Anyway, Cage Match was a fun mission with lots of clues and people to blast. The only downer is when you're rescuing that guy... or kidnapping him? Whatever. And he just stands there in the pipe. Anyway, what was that Kyksie said about rooftops? I'll have to try that.

As far as boring, practical powers go, Hasten is the winner followed closely by Combat Jumping. They both go on absolutely every character whatsoever. For fun powers, any nuke, especially those with flashy animations. The PB one is a lot of fun.

Localization was somewhat bugged even on the live server.

I think the problem happens if you enter while flying or hovering.

Don't use Superman and Homelander in the same sentence.

Traps in general needs a lot of love. Force Field Generator and Acid Mortar are good, Seeker Drones are OK, and pretty much all the other powers are doodoo.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cimerora Arc# 43268 @Kyksie Answering Imperious' call for aid, you and a group of intrepid heroes traveled back in time to Cimerora, determined to thwart Romulus and the Fifth Column's plans for temporal domination. Except, the cheap secondhand time shunt you bought at Crazy Mark's House of Bargains malfunctioned, dropping you off two weeks after the invasion... into the middle of a slave pit. And, for some reason, your powers aren't working. The last three days have consisted mainly of shoveling horse manure.

Gravity - 42775 It's really good. Sorry for the brief review, but I'm busy doing... stuff.

Also, it's extremely easy for Fire Armor to max out their Fire resist; you can do it with just SOs. This allows new players to easily jump on the levelling train.

Huh? Whaaaaat? What universe do you live in? Go through the previous pages of this thread and search for the word "thanks". It comes up seven times. That's seven people thanking me for reviewing their arc. Now, go into the game and type "Kyksie" into the AE, and you'll find that I do in fact have a published arc. (actually two, but one is a joke) If you're going to criticize someone in the future, at least get the basic facts straight.

I gave up on Monopoly 20 years ago. In a 1v1 game, the optimal strategy is to buy absolutely everything, even if you have to mortgage. Multiplayer introduces deal making which adds another layer. But, if you have a group of peeps together who want a game, there are better choices then Monopoly.

The phrase 'raise awareness' sets off my bullshit detector. When a big charity says they're collection money to 'raise awareness', it usually means they're plowing the money back into more fundraising.

The rooting duration of the power is inconsistent with it's animation. The player forms a ball of radiation over their head and hurls it, but the rooting stops about 2/3 of a second before, so you can walk out from under the ball, leaving it hanging in midair before it launches itself. Also, Sentinel damage is terrible and needs to be increased by at least 30%.

Joule's Revenge - 42922 This arc tells the origin story of the author's character, Exquisite Joule, who is heir to the Wentworth fortune, and has a masters in international finance, and is a priestess in the Carnival of Light, and is a Marshal when she goes undercover in Arachnos, and... yeaaaaah, it's gonna be one of those arcs. 1) The "security director" tells us that the three Wentworth children have been kidnapped, so we head to the local mafia hangout for some pugilistic interrogation. It's a defeat all, but I'll forgive that because the map is small. The enemies are a custom group with about five or six types. (Nitpick: "Wiseguy Capo" is an oxymoron. Wiseguys are the street level soldiers, capos are the bosses.) Hmm, they have a stone obelisk? And Clockwork? 2) Now off to a warehouse to rescue the kids, who are being held by Praetorian Clockwork, and also by the "Carnival of Death", a custom group with about 6 members. We save the kids but one of them was grabbed as we left. 3) To some caves to rescue Juliet, and also read some books for some reason. 4) Now some time has passed, and Juliet has been trained and has a wide variety of mutant powers. We meet her in the Praetorian office map and punch the Don together. The map is about four times as big as needed, but it goes fast because as an EB Joule steamrolls through mobs. 5) And finally to some caves, where the player again joins Joule in pummeling the Carnival of Death boss. Another defeat all, but the map is small and Joule steamrolls through the trash mobs again. From a mechanical standpoint, there's nothing really wrong with Joule's Revenge. There's a few minor spelling errors and the custom groups are missing descriptions, but nothing major. The issue is that this entire arc is a *blatant* ego-stroke. The author's character is rich and powerful and respected by everyone; we know this because the arc tells us so, repeatedly. This is not sort of thing you put in a random AE. The player of an AE wants their own character to shine; we do not want to be repeatedly hit over the head with how amazing your character is, or trail behind her for two missions as she wipes out everything. This is the sort of arc you play by all by yourself, while waiting for mommy to bring another plate of Hot Pockets down to the basement.

VERY short and simple. but no flaws. The decorative NPCs were a nice touch. Nitpick; the "Praetorian Office" set feels out of place.

I Sing of Arms and the Man - 42617 Working double shifts as head of security at Big Al's Tokeville, Kyksie finds herself short on spare time lately. Hearing about a new AE that needs to be reviewed, she calls her friend Mystress Yiffstress, but she's busy yiffing. Stoner Dude is off doing, um, stuff, Mr. Neutron was eating ice cream, and Spider-Kitty went right to voicemail. Sighing, Kyksie scrolls down her address list and reluctantly calls the name at the bottom. "You come before me now," Imperious intones, "seeing me girded as for war. That is a truth known to the gods, and-" "Girded?" "Aye. And by the gods, I shall see the Usurper driven from this land-" "So you're, uh, wearing a girdle?" Imperious blinks. "Nay, I wear my ancestral armor to honor those who stood before me. A triumph will be needed, the dead honored-" "So the girdle is under the armor? That must be kinda uncomfortable." Imperious sighs. "Just go punch some people, okay?" Purple heads into some caves to rescue Imperious' loyal slave, Tullio. I'm not sure how a slave can be loyal though. Maybe Imperious has a really good medical plan with no HMO. There's a nicely done custom group, and the cave has lots of clues and decorative glowies. He brings back a tablet with a 'battle sign' or something. Then we go to another cave to capture an ex-gladiator named Crixus, who agrees to help. We then go to the temple and free more gladiators with Crixus' aid. At the end, Crixus demands the dental plan in addition to medical and paid leave, but Imperious refuses, so he attacks, but that ends the mission so it doesn't matter. This is another good arc, with lavish writing and clues, and no time wasters. A tiny nitpick is that the difficulty is a bit uneven; the boss of mission 2 is a boss who will not scale to an lt, while the boss of the last mission is an lt and you have an EB ally, making it effortless.

Garden of the Will - 42520 The contact is Pavel Garnier, and FBI agent charged with making Perez Park an actual park again (which seems a bit odd for the FBI, but eh). We infiltrate a Skull lair and retrieve an undercover agent, who has evidence telling us the the Vahzilok are up to no good. But then, as a rule the Vahzilok generally are up to no good. What about all those thing that the Doctor promised, like an end to death and disease and eight zombie arms for everyone? I wouldn't mind a few extra arms. Anyway, next we bust into the park and stop the Vaz from injecting Hellions and Skulls with some weird serum, them discover that the Vahzilok have a new leader called the gardener, and the serum was supposed to make people grow leaves or something, which wouldn't be nearly as useful as extra arms, unless it's hot and you need shade. We pummel the gardener and put and end to his schemes, making Perez Park a wonderful place for children to frolic, except for all the Clockwork, and Circle of Thorns, and the Kraken. This is another well done arc; as usual, my only gripe is the low level cap. Sorry for taking so long to post the review... it's just that "well done but not incredible" arcs don't leave me with a lot to work with. The best reviews are for stuff that's at an extreme; absolutely amazing or completely awful. AE authors, if you're putting the finishing touches on an arc and you don't think it's a masterpiece, please do me a favor and make it terrible. Spelling errors, glowie hunts, catboys in their underwear, that sort of thing.

The first map suffers from what I call "Objective Overload". Something like five glowies, two bosses and three meetups IIRC. I was going to mention it but that map was just so awesome in all other ways 🙂 But yeah, 'chained' glowies are generally a no-no on big maps, unless you have them spawn all in the same area.

You can make a custom mob and give it plenty of defensive powers but only the tier one attack. It will still do boss/EB scale damage with that attack, though. Still, strong allies aren't necessarily a bad thing. (They reduce your XP, but we're not playing architect for XP, right?) In particular, this arc ended with an EB foe, who was quickly set upon and beaten by my three EB allies. If I hadn't had those allies, a sudden EB while reduced to level 20 would be a Bad Thing.