Mission Architect Competition for October 2021: REBIRTH

[Take One]

Hello, everyone. The Cimerora story competition is over, and I'm still sitting on a pile of influence burning holes in my pockets. Time for another story contest, sponsored by me! This time, the theme is "Rebirth". The rules, as they are, follow below:

 

• The competition ends on midnight on October 31. Your arc, whether it's new or already exists, must be published before the cut-off date.
• The theme for the arc is REBIRTH. You may interpret this however you like.
• Post information about your arc in this thread, the most important of which being the Arc ID.
• I am the sole judge and will decide the winner and any runner ups entirely based on my own tastes. If you want to know what I like, I have created several arcs in the AE which I feel are excellent examples of good AE writing, some of which I have listed in my signature below. If you don't want to do your homework and play my stories, I'll summarize: I like content that fits in the game world, is canon-related and takes the world of CoH as seriously as the game itself does. That said, I can certainly appreciate humor, within those boundaries.
• I will play the entries as they come in, so if you change anything before the cut-off date, let me know so I can re-play the arc. I will probably re-play them all after October 31 anyway, but please make sure I don't miss anything important.
• First place wins 500 million influence.
• Second and third place wins 100 million influence each.

 

So, to recap:

 

Write a story arc in the AE on the theme REBIRTH.

Post the Arc ID in this thread, along with any other relevant information.

One winner gets 500 million influence.

Two runner-ups get 100 million influence each.

You have until midnight, October 31.

Good luck!

[cranebump]

Okay. Managed to make the Cage Series finale fit the theme:

 

You had remarked after the first two that you wondered if you're still a vigilante. I took that as a starting point for the finale.:-)

[cranebump]

Might have to make it a quarterly thing?

[Take One]

I might have to add some rule about what happens in case of a lack of entries. But people have a couple of weeks left.

[Ankylosaur]

I'm working on one...

 

All That Gleams 5.0: Redemption in Praetoria 

The Epilogue to the All That Glitters, All That Glimmers and even Police vs. Aliens, series it pulls the three together and is sort of the inverse of what you have been through. While those series all explore the impact of Praetoria on Primal, all the stories above have an impact on the post-Cole Praetoria. This explores that landscape and the impact you have had on the "reborn" Praetoria by participating in those arcs - just to put a bow on the various series.

 

Two other "rebirths" in there too.

 

Coming soon...

Edited October 13, 2021 by Ankylosaur

[Ankylosaur]

So, I finished All That Gleams above, but it is not my submission. While it does visit a reborn Praetoria, it is built upon so much story scaffolding as to not really stand on its own. I intended it as a bit of an epilogue, so it is a bit more expositional in how it unfolds - which makes it a bit less of a contender. 

 

Instead, I'll submit Ninjas in The Wind, which was originally written as a standalone and really is where I introduce the notion of a Praetoria reborn. So...

 

  

Edited October 18, 2021 by Ankylosaur

[Take One]

 

I still got it.

[Jiro Ito]

I offer this, and may my efforts please you:

 

The Defenders of Talos

ID# 44578

Help a second generation hero investigate the whereabouts of the Defenders of Talos, a Supergroup that disappeared after the first Rikti War in 2002.

 

Thanks for hosting the contest!

[Kyksie]

The mission I just published, "Your Final Mission", should I guess be considered an unofficial entry into the contest. It was created many years ago so it wouldn't really be fair to make it a real entry, but i does fit the theme of "rebirth".

[Heraclea]

This, too, is older material, containing missions I made on Victory, but it fits the theme, at least broadly.

Lawyers of Ghastly Horror - #581

[Take One]

6 hours ago, Kyksie said:

It was created many years ago so it wouldn't really be fair to make it a real entry, but i does fit the theme of "rebirth".

 

The only rule about this says that it must be published before the cut-off date. So any old arc you've got lying around will do fine. Also, beggars can't be choosers and there haven't been too many entries this time around. I will treat this accordingly.

[Ankylosaur]

On 10/19/2021 at 4:22 AM, Take One said:

 

I still got it.

 

Serves me right for trying to kludge a "cutscene" - you killed the actors! 🙂 

[Take One]

4 hours ago, Ankylosaur said:

 

Serves me right for trying to kludge a "cutscene" - you killed the actors! 🙂 

 

You mentioned that you had made it more difficult so I had to see if I could still do it.

[Ankylosaur]

On 10/28/2021 at 2:59 AM, Take One said:

 

You mentioned that you had made it more difficult so I had to see if I could still do it.

 

I have thought of ways to make it more difficult, (e.g. all boss mobs surrounding them) but decided in the end it is not important. If you can take em on, well why not? 🙂

 

You have to take on many Arachnos leaders in the Glitters after all. 

[Take One]

This competition is now closed.

Thank you to the participants. I will re-play your arcs and make my judgment as soon as possible.

[Take One]

And the results are in!

 

Our first runner up is Cranebump's "Match Point", with arc Id 44239. This story is told in a way that is unusual for the AE format, in what can almost be considered a series of flashbacks as you ponder the information you have gathered, leading you up to the final confrontation with... well, you'll have to play it to find out. I found it a little confusing at first, but I won't deny that it was artistic.

 

Next runner up is a real heartstring-tugger, in the form of Kyksie's "Your Final Mission", arc Id 44589. Nostalgic, bitter-sweet, maybe even a little sad - but with a not just literal but actual rebirth in the form of the very servers you may play on right now.

 

The real winner though is Jiro Ito with "The Defenders of Talos", arc Id 44578. It is not perfect, but I could easily see this arc added to the game with maybe just minor modifications. The story was good all the way through, direct and to the point, and with no unnecessary gimmicks.

 

Prizes will be sent out to your in-game email presently.

[cranebump]

Much appreciated for the recognition and your efforts. And I should add that part of the reason that particular ARC went the way it did was directly due to the comment you made concerning the previous ARC, and whether or not you were still a vigilante. So thanks for providing me with the springboard. 🙂 And, of course, congratulations to our winner.

Edited November 2, 2021 by cranebump

[Ankylosaur]

Congrats all!

 

And thanks for running the contest, @Take One

[Jiro Ito]

On 11/2/2021 at 2:12 AM, Take One said:

And the results are in!

 

Our first runner up is Cranebump's "Match Point", with arc Id 44239. This story is told in a way that is unusual for the AE format, in what can almost be considered a series of flashbacks as you ponder the information you have gathered, leading you up to the final confrontation with... well, you'll have to play it to find out. I found it a little confusing at first, but I won't deny that it was artistic.

 

Next runner up is a real heartstring-tugger, in the form of Kyksie's "Your Final Mission", arc Id 44589. Nostalgic, bitter-sweet, maybe even a little sad - but with a not just literal but actual rebirth in the form of the very servers you may play on right now.

 

The real winner though is Jiro Ito with "The Defenders of Talos", arc Id 44578. It is not perfect, but I could easily see this arc added to the game with maybe just minor modifications. The story was good all the way through, direct and to the point, and with no unnecessary gimmicks.

 

Prizes will be sent out to your in-game email presently.

 

Thank you so much @Take One, first for running the contest for the community and, humbly, for selecting my arc as the winner.  All of you are inspiring writers and always give me great ideas to write the next arc!