Ran a Night Ward arc the other day - it was great

[DougGraves]

I know I ran some Night Ward missions pre-snap, but I have done little in Night Ward recently.  Someone put a team together and ran what they said was the main arc - all about Percy.  The final battle defending the mansion was epic.

[Bill Z Bubba]

The Wards are fun.

 

And Night Watch and Day Watch are great movies.

[Eldyem]

I love the Night Ward storyline and have run it several times, but that particular mission is easily one of the least fun possible if the team wipes, in my opinion. The Magician's arc is one of my favorites in the game, I think in part because the Night Ward is actually self-contained enough that I can imagine there being actual stakes.

 

I vaguely remember there being datamines that suggest that Autumnal Blast (as seen in the Magician's arc) might be being worked on, and I think it's a little disappointing we never got to see something like that.

 

That all being said, I fully understand why people don't regularly run that content - the difficulty to rewards ratio is very skewed in a game with otherwise very easy rewards.

[MTeague]

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of First Ward, and Night Ward.

Admittedly, a few missions in First Ward were a massive wipe, followed by a massive wipe, followed by a "recalculating strategy", followed by a win.

The Shepherds and the Awakened can both be absolutely BRUTAL, esp if you're soloing. 

 

But I enjoy the Ward content significantly more than the older content.

 

22 minutes ago, Eldyem said:

That all being said, I fully understand why people don't regularly run that content - the difficulty to rewards ratio is very skewed in a game with otherwise very easy rewards.

This is true.  I mean, the number of missions per arc is typically smaller in the Wards. Most contacts have only 4-5 missions. 

But all missions are most certainly not created equally. 

 

Any random First Ward / Night Ward arc is probably a significantly greater challenge than say, The Mysterious General Z, or The Ring of Peebles arcs. 

[Without_Pause]

38 minutes ago, Eldyem said:

That all being said, I fully understand why people don't regularly run that content - the difficulty to rewards ratio is very skewed in a game with otherwise very easy rewards.

It can chew through a team if it ready for it or built for it. It and Croatoa are great content in that level range and yet you don't see teams running that content outside of rare occasions. 

[Crysis]

6 hours ago, Eldyem said:

That all being said, I fully understand why people don't regularly run that content - the difficulty to rewards ratio is very skewed in a game with otherwise very easy rewards.

Every time I see someone petitioning for a difficulty slider higher than +4/x8 I ask them if they’ve ever run all the Night Ward content on that setting.

 

*crickets*

[Chris24601]

My favorite thing about the Wards is they give a Praetorian an extended stay before they have to leave for Primal Earth.

 

And let me tell you, if you’re a Resistance who ultimately goes hero, doing the portal mission AFTER Night Ward and seeing both Katie (who remembers you again) with other freed Seers and Noble Savage standing there having nice send offs feels way better than how things get left in First/Night Wards.

 

Similarly, if you make sure to use whatever means to hit max level for Night Ward before leaving you’re right in the level range to start the Praetorian Portal Corps missions, then do the New Praetorians arcs and wrap it up with the Last Bastion arc and you’ll have gone from 1 to 50 doing nothing but Praetorian-related content.

[JnEricsonx]

9 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

The Wards are fun.

 

And Night Watch and Day Watch are great movies.

I haven't seen those movies in probably 13+ years.

[McJigg]

If this was on Everlasting, I believe I was on that team as well. Full 8 man team with difficulty set at just the right amount. It wasn't brain dead easy, we didn't constantly faceplant.

[TimesSeven]

The problem I have with a few of the NW and FW missions is that they are just "run to" missions. 

 

"Hey, go talk to what's-his-face about this."

 

"I've never heard of that before. Go ask what's-her-face."

 

"Hmm, that sounds familiar. I think what's-a-mcdoogal would know the answer to that -- and even though you have A PHONE and they are CURRENTLY IN YOUR CONTACT LIST, I'm still going to have you run all the way over there to talk to them in person."

 

I call those "Throwaway" missions or "Bored Dev" missions. 

[Scarlet Shocker]

We've been playing today with the Steady Indom crew, and it's a lot of fun. We've moved from Redside to First Ward eviscerating  everything in our path. Having a boatload of fun. Looking forward to next week 🙂

[Scarlet Shocker]

On 4/5/2024 at 5:58 AM, TimesSeven said:

The problem I have with a few of the NW and FW missions is that they are just "run to" missions. 

 

"Hey, go talk to what's-his-face about this."

 

"I've never heard of that before. Go ask what's-her-face."

 

"Hmm, that sounds familiar. I think what's-a-mcdoogal would know the answer to that -- and even though you have A PHONE and they are CURRENTLY IN YOUR CONTACT LIST, I'm still going to have you run all the way over there to talk to them in person."

 

I call those "Throwaway" missions or "Bored Dev" missions. 

 

I think they largely reflect the dynamics of the game as it was when Going Rogue and the Praetorian arcs were being developed.

 

A LOT of players were mostly playing solo and teaming was quite rare other than for Strike Forces and Trials etc. But despite that the lore of CoH is one of its core strengths and the story has always been key in this game. We can argue about whether we think the content of stories is up to snuff some of the time but that's not relevant here. What FW and NW do give you is an amazing story and much of those arcs weave the Praetorian and Primal worlds together.  So making someone go meet new characters is part of that (and has been since launch.)

 

It might be considered "lazy" or "throwaway" but I would disagree. I think those zones are rich in content and to a degree, talkies are part of telling and reinforcing the story.

 

 

[DougGraves]

15 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

I think they largely reflect the dynamics of the game as it was when Going Rogue and the Praetorian arcs were being developed.

 

A LOT of players were mostly playing solo and teaming was quite rare other than for Strike Forces and Trials etc. But despite that the lore of CoH is one of its core strengths and the story has always been key in this game. We can argue about whether we think the content of stories is up to snuff some of the time but that's not relevant here. What FW and NW do give you is an amazing story and much of those arcs weave the Praetorian and Primal worlds together.  So making someone go meet new characters is part of that (and has been since launch.)

 

It might be considered "lazy" or "throwaway" but I would disagree. I think those zones are rich in content and to a degree, talkies are part of telling and reinforcing the story.

 

I agree.  

 

In WoW and Guild Wars 2 you do missions for people in the world.  You learn about each area as you talk to them and do missions.  There is a story but it also makes the world important.

 

First Ward and Night Ward are one of the few zones where they places have a story and feel like a place (Croatoa and Striga are others).

 

Steel Canyon is just a big place where you can run to doors for missions.  I wish it had story arcs about the different neighborhoods and buildings there.

[Clave Dark 5]

On 4/6/2024 at 4:58 PM, Scarlet Shocker said:

It might be considered "lazy" or "throwaway" but I would disagree. I think those zones are rich in content and to a degree, talkies are part of telling and reinforcing the story.

But if we're not steamrolling through paper-thin combatants we're wasting our time!!   /s

[cranebump]

On 4/7/2024 at 10:54 AM, DougGraves said:

 

I agree.  

 

In WoW and Guild Wars 2 you do missions for people in the world.  You learn about each area as you talk to them and do missions.  There is a story but it also makes the world important.

 

First Ward and Night Ward are one of the few zones where they places have a story and feel like a place (Croatoa and Striga are others).

 

Steel Canyon is just a big place where you can run to doors for missions.  I wish it had story arcs about the different neighborhoods and buildings there.

Hm. Challenge accepted. I just got finished whipping up an AE story in Sky using NPCs from there, working in the information from the various badge locations. I haven’t really looked at Steel as a story location (outside 1 AE arc featuring Steel’s “Lethal Weapon” inspired detectives). After I recharge my batteries on little bit, I will take a look at it and see what additional stories might take place there in the cracks of what we already know. I would suggest we get a group of a authors on it just to see what everyone comes up with, but I can’t offer any rewards (other than the usual blood, tears, toil and sweat). 

Edited April 9 by cranebump