HEAT story arcs

[Ukase]

Sunstorm, Shadowstar. 

Currently, a warshade is assigned Shadowstar as a contact, and PB's get Sunstorm. (or do I have them mixed up? Don't think so) While my warshade can do Shadowstar's arcs through ouro, my non-warshade characters cannot. 

I'm certain this is working as intended. My suggestion is to open these arcs to any AT. A warshade and a PB used to be a privilege to play; you had to be 50 to even make one. This is no longer the case. Stopped being the case sometime during live. Seems like since it's no longer a true privilege to play one (beyond just being able to play at all) the contacts should be open to any AT. 

[GraspingVileTerror]

Hear-hear.

Likewise for the Villain Epic Archetype Story Arcs, please!

[Ukase]

1 hour ago, GraspingVileTerror said:

Hear-hear.

Likewise for the Villain Epic Archetype Story Arcs, please!

You know, I should have mentioned that myself. Good call. 

[Greycat]

They are the storyline that makes the epic AT an epic AT.

They are written, quite frequently, with the assumption that you are playing an epic.

 

So, no, running it as a blaster would make no sense.  A tanker is not going to particularly care about the mechanics of quantum weaponry. The circle is not going to try to separate a Kheldian from its host in a non-Kheldian.

 

Solid "no" from me.

 

The VEAT arcs just suck in general, and I'd say no there just to save others from having to be exposed to them.

[GraspingVileTerror]

The problem with that argument is none of the rest of the game's narrative functions that way.

Whole sloughs of story arcs make broad sweeping generalizations and assumptions about the player's character which are false, but do not prevent any players from engaging with them based on Archetype or Origin.

The "sanctity" of the "Epic" part of the Epic Archetypes' story arcs isn't really worth preserving in an environment which haphazardly claims "be your own hero/villains/[whatever]" at the same time as "well, except, don't."

 

Let players make their own choices as to which story arcs they want for narrative purposes.

Let players make their own choices as to which game content they can experience for whatever personal reasons they may have.

Apply a consistent approach to player agency.

[Greycat]

1 minute ago, GraspingVileTerror said:

The problem with that argument is none of the rest of the game's narrative functions that way.

 

 

And none of the other ATs, barring VEATs, are designed with a built in storyline as part of their packaging.  Yes, epic ATs hold a special position - and should *keep* that.

 

You want to dip into the Kheldian war, you can - run Moonfire, and the war wolf world from... unai, I think? Let's not steal some of what makes Epic ATs special.

[Ruin Mage]

No thanks, for the reasons Greycat stated.

 

46 minutes ago, GraspingVileTerror said:

Let players make their own choices as to which story arcs they want for narrative purposes.

Let players make their own choices as to which game content they can experience for whatever personal reasons they may have.

Apply a consistent approach to player agency.

This doesn't quite work and would require dialogue rewrites on a massive level. This isn't the game for that.

[Ukase]

20 hours ago, Greycat said:

They are the storyline that makes the epic AT an epic AT.

They are written, quite frequently, with the assumption that you are playing an epic.

 

So, no, running it as a blaster would make no sense.  A tanker is not going to particularly care about the mechanics of quantum weaponry. The circle is not going to try to separate a Kheldian from its host in a non-Kheldian.

 

Solid "no" from me.

 

The VEAT arcs just suck in general, and I'd say no there just to save others from having to be exposed to them.

I understand this perspective. But...it's disappointing that the only way to be exposed to the content is by playing the VEAT or HEAT - both of which are not very much fun (for me) to play. And while you may find this content sucks - I have not reached the conclusion, as I've not done the arcs. My one warshade was on a crawl team, and we went through the usual paths - hollows, faultline, striga, croatoa, rwz. I could visit the content through ouro with this character - but the AT, while having interesting effects, it's annoying to play, having to make frequent use of macros and binds. Why should I subject myself to such things just for a story arc? 

Candidly, none of the content in this game is going to make any critic stand up and take notice. It's designed for young teens, most of it. (in my estimation, anyway. Opinions will certainly vary) But, it would be more enjoyable to me if I could run through the content on my blaster, or corruptor, as opposed to these odd AT types that require multiple respecs because of the growing pains they have. 

 

[Greycat]

2 hours ago, Ukase said:

. Why should I subject myself to such things just for a story arc?

 

Because it's not "a" story arc, and these are designed specifically for those ATs. They are part of the reason for those ATs to exist.

 

And the ATs do not "require" multiple respecs. The VEATs force you into one at 24 (which I find annoying,) that's about it.

 

Honestly, it's simple. You don't like TFs, you're going to miss out on the storylines in task forces. You don't like being a villain, you're going to miss out on the redside storylines. Don't want to play a Kheld or Veat, you're going to miss out on those storylines. Your options are (a) run them or (b) read them on the wiki.

 

Seperate them from the ATs and you might as well just delete the ATs - after the *massive* rewrite needed to make the arcs generic.

[Ukase]

12 hours ago, Greycat said:

Seperate them from the ATs and you might as well just delete the ATs - after the *massive* rewrite needed to make the arcs generic.

I would like to make a distinction here. I'm not talking about separating the arcs from the ATs. I'm suggesting that other ATs be able to do the arcs. That's not precluding the HEATs from doing the arcs. And I never suggested a generic re-write, either. It is a fair point you brought up - about the re-write, but I'm not suggesting they do that. There needs to be no editing. I'm simply suggesting they make the arc available to all ATs. 

They've already made red/gold/blue available to all alignments via null the gull (aside from goldsiders who haven't reached level 20 yet). 

But, clearly you're against it for the reasons you stated, and you're entitled to that opinion. But, the suggestion still remains.