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Kyksie's Dojo


Kyksie

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Hi everyone, and welcome to Kyksie's Dojo, where all the cool kids come to learn the latest martial arts moves and hang out. Except that we won't be hanging out, we'll be reviewing the latest offerings from Architect Entertainment! And it's not a "dojo", it's more like "the lobby of City Hall". Actually that's exactly what it is. Dojos cost money.

 

Anyway, I'll be using this space to post reviews of arcs that don't have their own thread, like those mentioned on the Architect channel on Discord. Feel free to send a message to me on Discord as @Kyksie, although I generally check that only every two or three days. I'll happily review any arc that has some semblance of a story. I don't review farms or "Challenge" arcs. If it's a 'farm with a story' I'll review it solely on the merits of the story.

 

Edited by Kyksie
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39590 - Revel For He Shall Return

 

This is a nicely done one. Coyote (you know, the guy from the old tutorial) tells you that the Hellions and Skulls in Perez Park have worked out their differences and are now putting on a performance of Hamlet over at the amphitheater, or something like that. The player conducts some pugilistic interrogation and discovers that Ishmael of the Lost is behind it, so we delve into the sewers for more pummeling.

 

This is a very well written arc, with lots of references, a deep knowledge of CoH lore, and several sprinkles of humor. However, it gets bogged down in the first mission:

 

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That's a total of twenty enemy groups you need to pummel. The player is reduced to level 14, and in addition to that, the Kraken is there, forcing the player to run and hide when he sees you. That's about twelve groups more than the story requires. Then, in the last mission, Ishmael is an EB, who not only throws ambush waves at the player, but has a Final Form as well. Yep, you're still reduced to level 14. With the first mission toned down and Ishmael nerfed a bit (or maybe just a 'hard boss' warning) this could be an epic arc.

 

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@Take One asked me to take a look through his stuff, so I jumped in and hit a few buttons at random:


Murders in RWZ Morgue - A fun, quick detective mystery. Very little combat.

 

Clockwork Uprising - A 'retelling' of the Synapse task force. Not bad, but not remarkable. If you're in the mood to pummel wind-up robots, you might as well slog through the real TF to get credit for the accolade.

 

Clockwork Romance - I liked this one. The Clockwork King has kidnapped Penelope Yin (again) and it's up to you to rescue her... or not. A very well written story. My only suggestion would be to make it clearer exactly what you're doing in the final mission; I wasn't sure what I was doing until after it was over. Granted, I was halfway through my second Marley, making Penny appear as a young Margaret Cho doing a bit about her father's grocery, so I dunno.

 

War on Christmas - This one is my favorite. Working for Weston Phipps (as a villain), you formulate a plan to kill Santa Claus, or maybe just kidnap him, I forget. You hack a reindeer to obtain the security codes or something, then go clobber Santa in his North Pole fortress. Lots of well written dialog and injokes. Interestingly, the description tells you to play it with archvillains turned on... but Santa was still an EB.

 

 

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3 hours ago, Kyksie said:

Interestingly, the description tells you to play it with archvillains turned on... but Santa was still an EB.

 

No idea what happened there. Maybe you have to play at a higher notoriety setting, like x4 players or something, I don't know.

 

Thanks for playing and thanks for your reviews! I'm glad and a bit surprised that you liked the Clockwork Romance the most. I don't suppose you tried out both endings? Which one did you pick? Did you save Penny or did you leave her for the Clockwork?

 

Oh and the Synapse TF retelling was mostly to see if and how the entire TF could be condensed down into a more reasonable number of missions, if it was to ever be remade.

Edited by Take One

Check out my stories in the Mission Architect. Just search for "@Take One" or "SFMA". Here are some enticing titles:

  • Praetoria-related: Earth Revolution Red, Earth Revolution Blue
  • Mercenary Action: West Libertalia: Born And Raised, West Libertalia: Global Empire, West Libertalia: Love And Rockets
  • Soldier of Arachnos Arcs: The Tangled Weave, A Taste For Evil, Faultline By Night, The Warburg Connection,
  • Various: Project Dragon, Evolve Or Die, The Murders in the RWZ Morgue, The Last Crystal Out Of Cimerora
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1 hour ago, Kyksie said:

I led Penny out, which I think meant giving her to the Clockwork King? I'm not sure.

OH THE HUGE MANATEE!

 

Ahem.

Edited by Darmian

AE SFMA Arcs: The Meteors (Arc id 42079) Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part One. (Arc id 26756) X | Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Two. (Arc id 26952) | Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Three. (Arc id 27233) Darker Deeds: Part One (Arc id 28374) | Darker Deeds: Part Two. (Arc id 28536) | Darker Deeds: Part Three. (Arc id 29252) | Darkest Before Dawn: Part One (Arc id 29891) |

Darkest Before Dawn: Part Two (Arc id 30210) | Darkest Before Dawn: Part Three (Arc id 30560) |

 Bridge of Forever ( Arc id 36642) | The Cassini Division (Arc id 37104) X | The House of Gaunt Saints (Arc id 37489) X | The Spark of the Blind (Arc id 40403) | Damnatio Memoriae (Arc id 41140) X  The Eve of War (Arc id 41583) | Spirals: Part One. (Arc id 55109) |  Spirals: Part Two. (Arc id 55358) |  Spirals: Part Three. (Arc id 57197)

I Sing of Arms and the Man (Arc id 42617) | Three Sisters (Arc id 43013)

(Pre War Praetorian Loyalist.  Pre War Praetorian Resistance.  Pre ITF Cimerora.  Post ITF Cimerora. X = Dev Choice/Hall of Fame )

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Digging in the Dirt - 39785


Kyksie receives a call from Detective Rogers at the PPD, telling her that one Mitsumoto Hagashi has been stealing girders in Boomtown, hoping to build a new Outback factory there or something; Countess Crey has been giving him financial backing, so obviously he's up to no good. We head to Boomtown and discover that the Council are conducting the thefts. After some kicking, the Archon spills the beans about some infighting within their ranks. Then, we go to the old Hero Corps building in Faultline, fight some 'Hero Drones' and find a video of the Countess and Rebecca Foss photocopying their butts or something. Finally, after more punching, we discover that the new Hero corps building in Baumton was built on the site of an old 5th column base, so Kyksie busts in, rescues three hostages, shuts down a time portal and defeats the EB boss, Panzer.

 

This is another well done arc, with good dialog and lots of clues and mob chatter. My only gripe is the last mission, which reduces the player to level 19 and then throws an EB at you. Arc writers need to be very careful when reducing the player's level; many characters will have lost access to key powers. Granted, I was actually playing this with a Dark/Elec Sentinel, who is unable to deal damage at any level, so it didn't matter.

 

On the one in a million chance that the devs here are actually reading this column; Sentinels are a pretty cool idea, but they need a lot of love. The basic concept of "A blaster but not quite as squishy" is a sound one, except that we already have that: Soldiers of Arachnos. A Crab Spider can deal blaster-level damage with tons of AoEs as be quite sturdy at the same time, plus they also have pets, improved Leadership auras, and awesome looking spider arms. Bane Spiders don't deal quite as much AoE damage and don't have the cool arms, but they can still do a respectable amount of damage and be sturdy as well. All Sentinels can do is... be reasonably hard to kill. Their damage is so bad I feel that my Dark sent is merely glaring harshly at her foes. The word "Vulnerability" pops up over their heads once in a while, but as far as I can tell this merely causes mobs to question whether being a minion is a worthwhile life choice, because it doesn't make them go down any faster, except for those few who burst into tears and run off to get counseling.

 

With their damage improved by about 25-30%, and their inherent ability given some sort of boost, Sentinels could become a valid option. Oh yeah, Digging in the Dirt is pretty good too.

 

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Mynx's Big Adventure - 39792

 

Perched atop a Skyway City overpass smoking a doobie, Kyksie receives a telepathic message from her good friend Penelope Yin, telling her that the Circle of Thorns have kidnapped her other good friend Mynx. She follows the trail of booster wrappers to a high tech lab, kicks some mages, and finds Mynx imprisoned in a force field. She tries to lower the field, but the Circle have cast a spell making everyone extremely stupid, so she can't figure out how.

 

Their other other good friend, Azuria, tells her that she can make an anti-stupid potion using some rare herbs. Kyksie finds the herbs in a cave guarded be DE, then spends an hour drinking Natty Lite, scratching lottery tickets, and watching Fox News while Azuria brews the potions. With her brain fortified against the stupidity field, she breaks into the lab again, kicks the mages a second time, lowers the force field and frees Mynx. They escape back to Skyway City, but Mynx has to pee real bad, so Kyksie kicks away some trolls so Mynx can go in a garbage can.

 

Mynx's Big Adventure feels like someone's first arc: the dialog is rather simple, with not many clues or mob chatter. Still, there's no real faults beyond a few spelling errors. With a bit more attention to detail, this could be a worthwhile addition to the "Mynx takes a leak" genre, along with Bad Kitty! and Vindicators Pit Stop 1, 2, and 4. (I'm not going to mention 3, that one was terrible).

 

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39828 - Storm and Stars

 

I was reluctant to review this at first, given that two of the three missions have the dreaded 'defeat all enemies' objective, the bane of my existence. However, the second map is listed as medium and the last as small, so hopefully it won't be too time consuming. My afternoon was free because everyone in my Goosebumps book club just died of covid, so I poured myself another martini and dove in.

 

This arc opens in media res, with the player telling the "PPD representative" (no contact bio) about how they want to take down the guy who killed Atta. It feels like the sequel to a previous arc, but there are no others by this author. The contact warns that said person is 'scum', but the player is driven on by their relentless drive for justice or something. We boldly venture into a warehouse, kick some Tsoo and find an address.

 

Now to the office to find the assassin. It's the Praetorian Office set, and this "medium" map consisted of three huge floors packed with Tsoo. Tsoo were doing katas in the reception, Tsoo played Mahjongg in the tside offices, Tsoo watched tsentacle porn in the restroom. After fifteen minutes of Tsoo-tsomping, we clobber the boss and find a tshipping manifest.

 

Now, to capture the assassin. We take a boat, and... the "small" map is the cargo ship. Eighteen cavernous rooms packed with Tsoo. No thanks.

 

Arc authors: do not, I repeat, do NOT use the 'defeat all enemies' objective unless the plot requires it AND the map is very small. If I'm playing an AE arc for the story, I want to read the story, not get bogged down by tswarms of foes. I realize that some people will be playing your arc with a sub-50 who can use the XP, and some other people enjoy the repetition of defeating mob after mob... after mob... after mob after mob... you get the idea. But, by pushing the defeat all button, you take away the player's choice and force them to tslog through a bunch of random dudes before continuing the story. Don't do this.

 

But, just so this isn't a total wash, I ran to the back of the huge cargo ship to encounter the assassin... an Electric Armor EB, who not only has the end-draining Lightning Field, but the godmode Overload power, which makes him invincible for 90 seconds. My incarnated Crab Spider could have punched through that fairly quickly, but oops, I'm down to level 40, no Incarnate powers.

 

Storm and Stars fails on almost every level imaginable; no contact bio, player is dumped into the story, breaks the ocelot rule, multiple time wasters, overpowered boss with the player reduced in level.

 

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Ah, a caveat perhaps is in order. Storm & Stars is actually part of an ongoing set of stories for an RP SG and has a "window" of shelf life before being taken down and replaced with the following "episode".  The arc is designed for that entire team to play together and so on who already have all the info they need backloaded before they begin. 

 

No, it's not mine and not my SG but AE writers do talk to each other 🙂 So right now my suggestion would be that exact caveat in the description for future episodes, or for anyone doing a similar thing actually.

 

Edited by Darmian

AE SFMA Arcs: The Meteors (Arc id 42079) Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part One. (Arc id 26756) X | Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Two. (Arc id 26952) | Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Three. (Arc id 27233) Darker Deeds: Part One (Arc id 28374) | Darker Deeds: Part Two. (Arc id 28536) | Darker Deeds: Part Three. (Arc id 29252) | Darkest Before Dawn: Part One (Arc id 29891) |

Darkest Before Dawn: Part Two (Arc id 30210) | Darkest Before Dawn: Part Three (Arc id 30560) |

 Bridge of Forever ( Arc id 36642) | The Cassini Division (Arc id 37104) X | The House of Gaunt Saints (Arc id 37489) X | The Spark of the Blind (Arc id 40403) | Damnatio Memoriae (Arc id 41140) X  The Eve of War (Arc id 41583) | Spirals: Part One. (Arc id 55109) |  Spirals: Part Two. (Arc id 55358) |  Spirals: Part Three. (Arc id 57197)

I Sing of Arms and the Man (Arc id 42617) | Three Sisters (Arc id 43013)

(Pre War Praetorian Loyalist.  Pre War Praetorian Resistance.  Pre ITF Cimerora.  Post ITF Cimerora. X = Dev Choice/Hall of Fame )

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Youth For Eternity - 39817


The contact is Agent Amara Fox, who is a fox. Not a fox in the 'hot chick' sense, but an actual fox with a tail and pointy ears. Except that she is a fox in the hot chick sense too, smartly dressed with a cigarette dangling from her lips, gazing across the room with a cool yet assertive stare... you get the idea. This looks like a vanity arc for one of the author's alts. From previous experience, I've learned that vanity arcs are not always bad, just usually. Fox tells me that she works for Crey, but nevertheless she's hiring me to spy on Crey, because that's the way they do it at Crey I guess. Maybe they don't allow people to schedule vacation time, you have to hack the secretary's computer and insert yourself.

 

Kyksie arrives in the Manticore's Mansion map, which normally can be problematic for people who don't know where the secret door is, but here we rescue a hostage, Yukiko Fox, who both gives us a clue telling us where the door is, but needs to be led to a glowie, which gives us a waypoint. Yep, she's a fox too. Not in the 'hot chick' sense, but... you get the idea. The mansion is guarded by Crey 'elite troops'; some of them actually have names and bios. There are also loads of non-required glowies as decoration. The level of detail is amazing.

 

 

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We have learned that Crey is doing a fun new research project which combines science and magic, and nothing bad could possibly come out of that, right? I'm kidding, that always goes sideways. We need to infiltrate an office and grab some files. The office is the Praetorian one, which is under attack by... Dark Elves??? Yep, see, this is where things go wrong. Mixing high tech stuff with magic results in elves every time, just ask Keebler. They're another custom group, with names like "Dark Elf Katana Ichi" and "Dark Elf Archer Ni." I can only assume that 'ichi' means they wear wool socks, and 'ni' means they say nasty things to old ladies.

 

Here, we run into the arc's main problem... spelling and grammar errors. The text blocks have only a few errors, suggesting the author ran them through a spell checker. However, everything that isn't a dialog block has a lot of spelling errors, and I mean a LOT. Like, here's what happens when I find the files...

 

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"Cabinet" is misspelled in two different ways. Now that's dedication.

 

We've learned that Crey has been breeding young kitsune in a lab to serve as maids, or maybe spies, I dunno. The lab is super fortified, so Agent Fox summons a Demon Lord to break the walls down so that the PPD can swarm in and apprehend the Crey forces. Kyksie arrives, and discovers that a demon lord has smashed through the walls and PPD forces have captured the Crey ones. This is probably the best use of a map and decorative NPCs I've seen.

 

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Kicking our way through the lab, we rescue six kitsune maidens, including Yukiko Fox ("visual age: early teens") and lead them through a conveniently placed magic portal. The demon lord is there too as a rather tough EB, although I suspect he wasn't a required defeat. I tend to just plow in and kick everything I see. After returning, I discover that Agent Fox has taken all the kitsune except for Yukiko, who lies on the floor panting "Kyksie, I need your help...", sweat dripping from her brow and pooling near her heaving... you get the idea.

 

Youth For Eternity is very hard to rate. The writing is excellent, although it's clear that the author really, really likes kitsune, huh huh huh. The level of detail here exceeds that of any arc I've seen on Homecoming so far: loads of clues, dozens of decorative objects, two full custom groups, and plenty of NPCs with bios. But, the whole things is soured by the many spelling and grammatical errors. It's like going to a Michelin restaurant, and having filet mignon with oysters and Chateau Maison, and you're out on the terrace with sailboats sailing and strolling violinists strolling by... and your plate has a chip in the edge and a crack running down the middle. Your food is still exquisite and the strolling violinists are still strolling, but you'd think that with all the effort they put into the oysters, they would take a second to make sure your plate was intact. This picture sums up the arc perfectly:

 

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Given that the author is no doubt the founding member of an SG named League of Extraordinary Yiffers or Well of the Furries or something, I'm sure a few of his flunkies could swing through and mop up the errors, at which point this would be prime candidate for Devs's Choice.

 

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"Visual Age: Early 20s. Actual Age: 26?"

 

Um...why the differentiation when the perceived gap is so small? (this just strikes me as weird...is there something about the genre I'm missing?"

I have done a TON of AE work, both long form and single arc. Just search the AE mish list for my sig @cranebump. For more information on my stories, head to the AE forum sub-heading and look for “Crane’s World.” Support your AE authors! We ARE the new content.

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41 minutes ago, Kyksie said:

I'm not sure that "really, really, really likes kitsune" can be called a genre.

It is if you're trying to formulate a euphemism for your actual question.:-)

I have done a TON of AE work, both long form and single arc. Just search the AE mish list for my sig @cranebump. For more information on my stories, head to the AE forum sub-heading and look for “Crane’s World.” Support your AE authors! We ARE the new content.

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Hello Kyksie! Thank you so much for playing and reviewing my little Story Arc. I’ve always enjoyed your walk throughs. It was motivating to hear such positive comments about my story.

As for my sbelling and Grammer? Ya… I would like to say English is my second language, but alas I just really, really suck at English. I have already started going through the text and fixing what I notice. I don’t have a Super Group or furries to help, so I’ll just ask here. If anyone happens to play Youth for Eternity Arc ID #39817 and notice poor spelling and grammar, PLEASE let me know.

On 5/5/2021 at 12:09 PM, cranebump said:

"Visual Age: Early 20s. Actual Age: 26?"

 

Um...why the differentiation when the perceived gap is so small? (this just strikes me as weird...is there something about the genre I'm missing?"

I was trying to simulate data being pulled from a database. Sometimes you might see Visual Age: Late 30s. Actual Age: 2000. Other times you see what I posted above. So in many of the security guards they look their age.

 

And no I don't really, really, really likes kitsune. I just needed Amaya Fox and Yukiko Fox to have similar backgrounds. And ok, maybe I like kitsunes. 🙂 Thanks again for everyone trying out my AE mission. Glad you enjoyed it. 

 

Live long and prosper, may the force be with you, for the omnissiah, there is no spoon, and you shale not pass. 

 

-=Andrew=-

 

 

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Ah. So following a facet of the mission theme. Okay, that does make sense, thank you.

I have done a TON of AE work, both long form and single arc. Just search the AE mish list for my sig @cranebump. For more information on my stories, head to the AE forum sub-heading and look for “Crane’s World.” Support your AE authors! We ARE the new content.

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  • 2 weeks later

Freakshow 2.0 - 40266


After debriefing the PPD and FBSA agents regarding her latest triumph over the Clockwork King, Kyksie took the express turbolift from the conference room to the command center of the Super Best Friends' high-tech base. Helping herself to a chicken wrap and Greek salad from the catering table, she settled into the form-fitting armchair and tapped the touch-sensitive datascreen. A map of Paragon City appeared, overlaid with green and red markers indicating potential trouble spots. Sipping her mango protein shake, Kyksie zoomed in on the Skyway City map, calling up a panel of statistics detailing recent activity by the Trolls...

 

...is what you would have read if this took place in an ideal universe, where the FBSA and City Hall gave heroes the resources they need. In reality, Kyksie sat in an uncomfortable folding chair in front of row of public access computers at the Steel Canyon branch of Paragon university, checking her email and catching up with her friends on Capebook. The homeless guy in the terminal next to her grunted and scratched, his screen displaying something about Mynx, Swan, and an illegal Crey vaseline factory.

 

Kyksie finished off the Almond Joy bar she obtained from the lobby vending machine (c'mon, it had been hanging by a corner, if she hadn't kicked the machine like that someone else would have) when a Crime Alert popped up, something about Freakshow in Skyway City. Sighing, she logged off, stole one last glance at the unholy tableau unfolding at the station next to her, and headed off to catch the monorail.

 

1) Kyksie arrives in Skyway to find it overrun by Freakshow. Synapse and Mynx aren't there, so she squares her shoulders and makes with the kicking. Yep, it's a defeat all. Because they're Freakshow, many of them get up afterwards and need to be kicked again. After a bit, she noticed that some of the freaks have newer and shinier implants, which fill them with zest and vigor, because *all* of these 'cyber freaks' get up for round two. Kyksie spends fifteen minutes scouring the multi-level freeway of Freaks before returning to the library.

 

2) One of the Freaks dropped his phone, with his address for Amazon deliveries. Kyksie heads for a warehouse, kicks more Freaks and finds more equipment. One of the boxes had a shipping manifest, so she follows the address to...

 

3) St. Martial, where she kicks a Praetorian commander, who drops clues leading to...

 

4) Neutropolis, where she smashes a suspicious truck, containing the address of...

 

5) A high tech lab, where she hacks computers, kicks Praetorian scientists (who have no offensive powers, so no XP/INF), breaks some fabrication machines, and defeats some war Walkers. She tried kicking a Praetorian vending machine, but only Cole Crunchies and Tyrant Toffee drop out ("The sun never sets on flavor!"). She eats them anyway.

 

Freakshow 2.0 is a rather bland and generic arc, with a few bits of fun dialog, but dragged down by the defeat-all time waster in act 1.

 

 

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We Need Original Content - 39992


I generally don't review 'challenge' arcs, but I hit a wall trying to come up with a story hook for Ninjas in the Wind and The Spark of the Blind (spoiler: both are excellent) so I jumped into this and... eh. Set in the Frostfire's Party Palace map, this has swarms of custom mobs with names like "sonic noises" and "spines regen", with bosses named "I'm difficult" and "Blow Me (up)", plus wandering mobs from random groups like Red Caps and Praetorian Clockwork. Mob dialog consists of head-scratchers like "I'll give you a cookie to stop!!" Seriously it feels like the author let his 9 year old nephew write the dialog. I took my Crab Spider in and found it effortless at 0x2, then bumped it up to 0x8 and left after two minutes because every single mob had Smoke Grenade or Detention Field.

 

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Thanks @Kyksie. I just have one query for you regarding mine: was there a fight in the final mission? There is now but there wasn't when it first went up.

AE SFMA Arcs: The Meteors (Arc id 42079) Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part One. (Arc id 26756) X | Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Two. (Arc id 26952) | Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Three. (Arc id 27233) Darker Deeds: Part One (Arc id 28374) | Darker Deeds: Part Two. (Arc id 28536) | Darker Deeds: Part Three. (Arc id 29252) | Darkest Before Dawn: Part One (Arc id 29891) |

Darkest Before Dawn: Part Two (Arc id 30210) | Darkest Before Dawn: Part Three (Arc id 30560) |

 Bridge of Forever ( Arc id 36642) | The Cassini Division (Arc id 37104) X | The House of Gaunt Saints (Arc id 37489) X | The Spark of the Blind (Arc id 40403) | Damnatio Memoriae (Arc id 41140) X  The Eve of War (Arc id 41583) | Spirals: Part One. (Arc id 55109) |  Spirals: Part Two. (Arc id 55358) |  Spirals: Part Three. (Arc id 57197)

I Sing of Arms and the Man (Arc id 42617) | Three Sisters (Arc id 43013)

(Pre War Praetorian Loyalist.  Pre War Praetorian Resistance.  Pre ITF Cimerora.  Post ITF Cimerora. X = Dev Choice/Hall of Fame )

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Also a big thanks! I thought Kyksie might enjoy kicking some mobs that kick back. Like Darmian mine has a few refinements in it since you played, mostly with the mobs (more mecha minions and more distinctive looks between monk minions vs. LTs) - but most importantly there was a bug in M1 on one of the rescues which is fixed now.

AE Arcs: Search for @Ankylosaur    * denotes Dev's Choice

  • Adventures in Lit:  Adventures in Wonderland - 25-54*  |  Adventures in Oz - 40-54  |  Adventures in Neverland - 45-54
  • Notable One-offs: Rularularian - 41-54*  |  The Serpent Beyond the Horizon - 46-52*   |  Robolution - 25-34*  |  The Genesis & Geneticists of The Coming Hamiggedon -  41-54*   |  Spycraft and Spidermen - 40-47  |  Return to Faultline - 40-54 
  • Post-Praetoria Series: All That Glitters: Gold Brickers & Mooks 9 Arcs  |   All That Glimmers:  First Warders & Mu - 9 Arcs  | All That Glints: The Awakened & Council - 3 Arcs  |  All That Glows: Nictus & 5th Column - 3 Arcs*   |  All That Gleams: Epilogue (Neo Tokyo) - 1 Arc
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Interestingly, I may have played Ninjas in the Wind inbetween revisions! The first time I played it, one of the waypoints didn't appear, but when I tried it again it worked perfectly. As for the last mission in Spark of the Blind, no, I just hit the button, tried to kick the vending machine and left. A bit anticlimactic, but it works.

 

Anyway, Spark of the Blind has the player working with Belladonna Vetrano to send Apex back to fight the good fight, while Ninjas in the Wind has you fighting collection agents from Chiba City or something. I don't want to give away too much of the plot of either, so I'll just say that both arcs are top-notch, with lots of dialog and clues and no time wasters. The former even uses the escort code to have NPCs comment on stuff. It's awesome.

 

I came up short trying to integrate Kyksie's latest adventures into this, so let's just say that after completing both, she stops into Major Flander's and orders a Deluxe Bucket (you know, the one that the Freedom Phalanx did the ad for) but the manager says she's been abusing their 'heroes get free food' policy and only gives her a single order of wings, so she offers to clear out the Trolls that have been giving him trouble, then goes and kicks all the Trolls in the surrounding block, even though they weren't harassing the store, in fact they often stop by for Flambeax Fries after a Superdyne binge. The manager gives her the bucket because it's less trouble than arguing.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Kyksie said:

As for the last mission in Spark of the Blind, no, I just hit the button, tried to kick the vending machine and left. A bit anticlimactic, but it works.

Well, now there's a 5 minute timer to meet Apex and power the thingamajig. But...

Spoiler

Praetorian Darrin Wade casts a TP spell and arrives in to the chamber after you power up the device and rants about needing to cross over too, he needs answers to what Lourdin was doing to him, and he's tough enough, so you (and Apex) need to beat the snot out of him and get out, or not, because that timer is still counting down.

The end speech from Belladonna is essentially the same as before, with the analogy and the threat.  

AE SFMA Arcs: The Meteors (Arc id 42079) Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part One. (Arc id 26756) X | Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Two. (Arc id 26952) | Dark Deeds in Galaxy City: Part Three. (Arc id 27233) Darker Deeds: Part One (Arc id 28374) | Darker Deeds: Part Two. (Arc id 28536) | Darker Deeds: Part Three. (Arc id 29252) | Darkest Before Dawn: Part One (Arc id 29891) |

Darkest Before Dawn: Part Two (Arc id 30210) | Darkest Before Dawn: Part Three (Arc id 30560) |

 Bridge of Forever ( Arc id 36642) | The Cassini Division (Arc id 37104) X | The House of Gaunt Saints (Arc id 37489) X | The Spark of the Blind (Arc id 40403) | Damnatio Memoriae (Arc id 41140) X  The Eve of War (Arc id 41583) | Spirals: Part One. (Arc id 55109) |  Spirals: Part Two. (Arc id 55358) |  Spirals: Part Three. (Arc id 57197)

I Sing of Arms and the Man (Arc id 42617) | Three Sisters (Arc id 43013)

(Pre War Praetorian Loyalist.  Pre War Praetorian Resistance.  Pre ITF Cimerora.  Post ITF Cimerora. X = Dev Choice/Hall of Fame )

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  • 2 weeks later

 

Yeet - 24206

 

A week has gone by with no requests for arc reviews, and boredom is beginning to set in. Kyksie has recovered the Liquid Computer and the P.L.O.T. device from the Council several times this week, enough to write a whole arc about a cola machine becoming sentient. Finishing off her Tankburger and Freem Fries from Up-N-Away, she wanders back to the Architect building in Atlas, wiping her greasy hands on her pink leggings. Sighing, she pokes through the latest fire farms, S/L farms, meow farms, and farms with plots, but finds nothing in need of reviewing. As she plucks the last fry from the paper bag, a ketchup packet falls out and bounces off the 'more' button on the architect panel. Bending over to pick it up, Kyksie notices something...

 

y1.thumb.jpg.542071c74d0e37f908ff650b79a42475.jpg

 

Dear Lord, could it be?

 

y2.jpg.0c7e8c3b9c37f50dac6c9374589eb64b.jpg

 

A random mission button! No more waiting around for people to submit arcs to be reviewed... with a single click, we now have access to whole galaxy of arcs! Kyksie reaches out and carefully presses the button, and the display instantly lights up...

 

y3.thumb.jpg.7f33101a6c4ec214f40b3dbe87619c45.jpg

 

"Yeet"? Sounds like some sort of code word, maybe CIA or KGB. She approaches the contact, who has chosen to remain anonymous, hiding behind a featureless hologram. The contact regards her cautiously, before beckoning her closer and whispering a single word...

 

y4.thumb.jpg.e082c899fdc8bec900ce1c57e325cf84.jpg

 

..."Yeet" again. What could it mean, and why is her mysterious handler afraid to say more? Nervously, she steps into the portal, and finds herself if a dingy, abandoned office, tasked only with confronting "the yeeter". Who or what could it be?

 

y5.thumb.jpg.85ac698974ecd50bfcb8ed71e5b8779e.jpg

 

Kyksie runs into a few Fifth Column troops and kicks them into submission, but the leader bites down on a cyanide tooth instead of letting himself be interrogated. Sighing, she gazes across the mildew-stained floors, and spies a half-rotted cardboard box covered in dust. Carefully, she peels back the layers of tape, opens the box, and... there it is. The yeeter. Cradling it in her arms, she heads out of the office and back to the contact. Wide-eyed with surprise, he takes it in his hard-light hands, and turns to depart, but then turns back to Kyksie and utters a single word...

 

y6.thumb.jpg.dc0a3eada9760b11e25eb86f3ccdb8ff.jpg

 

"Yeet" is destined to be a classic, with clear, concise dialog, no spelling errors, no time wasters, and no overpowered mobs. Definitely a Dev's Choice candidate.

 

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If you're desperate for content to play, I have a bunch of arcs you  haven't reviewed. Just look in my signature here, or search for @Take One in the AE.

Check out my stories in the Mission Architect. Just search for "@Take One" or "SFMA". Here are some enticing titles:

  • Praetoria-related: Earth Revolution Red, Earth Revolution Blue
  • Mercenary Action: West Libertalia: Born And Raised, West Libertalia: Global Empire, West Libertalia: Love And Rockets
  • Soldier of Arachnos Arcs: The Tangled Weave, A Taste For Evil, Faultline By Night, The Warburg Connection,
  • Various: Project Dragon, Evolve Or Die, The Murders in the RWZ Morgue, The Last Crystal Out Of Cimerora
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Infection From the Isles - 40876 40915

 

A nice fun arc. The contact is Agent Hahn, who was probably a business major before joining Longbow, because her intro is filled with buzzwords like 'onboard' and 'deep dive'. Supposedly, Arachnos has made a change to the Infected, allowing them to infect others, which would be pretty bad, implying Lord Recluse has been playing lots of L4D and Fortnite. The zombie part of Fortnite, not the battle royale part. The player contains the zombies, meets with Matthew Burke, kicks some Arachnoses, then captures Dr. Creed, shutting down the source of zombies.

 

The story here is pretty good, although not really special. What makes the arc stand out is the use of details. Like, the first mission is filled with wandering zombies who use the "zombie walk" animation; in one of the later missions, there's an Arachnos lookout, and when you kick him, a voice from further on cries "our lookout saw something!" Little touches like that turn an ordinary arc into an awesome one. The only downside is a few minor spelling/grammar errors.

 

EDIT: the author has since released a new version, which not only fixes the spelling errors, but after you complete the first and fifth missions, a Longbow task force led by Ms. Liberty arrive and start scrubbing the zombie barf up off the floor. I haven't actually played the new version, but I'm going to assume this is what happens.

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