Focused Feedback: New Story Arc: <Troubled Times> [Dr. Stribbling] - Vigilante, Levels 30-34

[The Curator]

New Mission Content: Dr. Stribbling

New Story Arc: <Troubled Times> [Dr. Stribbling] - Vigilante, Levels 30-34

Those who toe the line of legality in Paragon City will have the chance to answer the call of Dr. Stribbling, a multidisciplinary scientist better known for his theory than his results. He's run into a bit of a problem: Someone broke into his lab and he does not want information on his experiments to leak to the public.

Players who are willing to get their hands a little dirty will find themselves drawn into a web of moral quandaries that will have them wondering, "Did I make the right call?"

 

 

• Story Arc Contact: Dr. Stribbling, Brickstown
  • Located NW of the basketball courts in the Crescent neighborhood of Brickstown.
    •  /thumbtack -1143.7 16.0 -1623.5  will place a map waypoint near Dr. Stribbling while in Brickstown.
  • The leader of the team must be of the Vigilante alignment to take on these missions.

[arthurh35353]

I attempted to do this arc, but before I did any mission and I asked him why he didn't go to the police, I think I got the 'ran from the law' choice.

[holymittens]

21 hours ago, arthurh35353 said:

I attempted to do this arc, but before I did any mission and I asked him why he didn't go to the police, I think I got the 'ran from the law' choice.

Can you explain what you mean by "ran from the law" choice?

[Tarrquinn]

An interesting arc to be sure. The dialogue options were pretty good, and it was fun seeing Frostfire again. The unique dialogue option for having done this as a flashback is also great attention to detail. Although the subject matter definitely feels up there with Lieutenant Harris' arc in terms of ick factor. I appreciate we get to choose how to handle it, unlike with Harris.

 

I did notice a few bugs though while doing the arc as a flashback: in the first mission the Hydra Telepathic link Snooper was unable to be attacked and kept running towards the exit door (intentional?), Dr. Stribbling was not present on the Brickstown map, the missions to call him had a map marker leading right to where he ought to be (but calling would finish the mission), and taking the smuggler's sub from Striga to Port Oakes caused me to fall through the map until it reset me on the beach about 300 yards from the mission door.

[AboveTheChemist]

I found some minor geometry issues at the force field seams in the port oakes instance. The corners of the force field appear to be mis-aligned. I've included one screenshot (spoilered just in case) but I saw similar issues at all four corners.

 

Spoiler

[Xiddo]

Going to do this arc a couple of times.... So will EDIT as I do it in the different iterations.

 

General note:
1. The first mission is absolutely fab. Those big spawns are great. Finally the wailers in a blue mission!
2. Ooooh boy I can see getting the badge for this is going to take a few tries...

First run:
Outcome -

Spoiler

Let Marcus go, told matey I'd get him one day - no badge.

Mission 3

Spoiler

1. I've spoken to Captain Argent and we've agreed that I should head in. However the objectives still say "Talk with Cpt. Argent".
2. Same as above but with Freak leader

3. same as above but with Thistle

 

Mission 4-ish
 

Spoiler

Chatted to M1dway in Striga, got the boat to Port Oakes, fell through the map and landed outside the hospital

 

Edited April 8, 2023 by Xiddo

[EmperorSteele]

16 hours ago, Tarrquinn said:

Dr. Stribbling was not present on the Brickstown map, the missions to call him had a map marker leading right to where he ought to be (but calling would finish the mission), 

 

When you speak to him after the first mission, he reveals that he's gone to his secondary lab. This becomes a plot point at the end.

[holymittens]

Hello, just FYI, I am the Dev for this arc (my Dev badge hasn't been applied yet due to me being too forgetful to ask for it).

 

The issue with falling through the world when taking the sub to Port Oakes is being fixed, it should be on Test soon.

 

There are also a few issues with some of the (for lack of a better word) routes through the arc that will cause Marcus to believe you're not the Team Leader when talking to him or claiming to attack you but never actually doing so and remaining blue. The fixes for those two are both on the way and will come with the next patch.

[MsAligned]

Just tried to run it, after first mission, a talkie with the good Dr. except no doctor, so no way to get the next mission.  Doing this as a flashback.

[holymittens]

1 hour ago, MsAligned said:

Just tried to run it, after first mission, a talkie with the good Dr. except no doctor, so no way to get the next mission.  Doing this as a flashback.

 

You should be able to call him on the phone.

[Molubdos]

I've managed to reach "another" path over multiple flashbacks, but having some issues in the now-modified Port Oakes instance.

Spoiler

This is now on a 5th Route, after collecting 4 souvenirs. My collection order is in the first sub-spoiler, my issue in the second

Spoiler

Collection Order: Released, Arrested, Returned, Killed. M1dway skipped on this run.

 

Spoiler

The Mender doesn't appear to exist in the main map area, which means that I suspect that they're in the boat, the door of which is now simply telling me "you cannot enter" - either because I haven't talked to the normal NPC present on this mission, who is now absent, or because this version of the mission doesn't use it. I've scoured the main map area with the usual targetcustomnext macro, and even tried a cheeky demorecord to try & find them, to no luck.

 

 

[holymittens]

5 minutes ago, Molubdos said:

I've managed to reach "another" path over multiple flashbacks, but having some issues in the now-modified Port Oakes instance.

Spoiler

The Mender stands where Frostfire normally does. Can you try resetting the mission and trying again to see if he spawns?

Edited April 9, 2023 by holymittens

[Lazarillo]

Did a quickie run through the arc.  Maybe a couple notes:

 

1. Let me start off by saying the writing felt spot-on.  This was a real "City of Heroes" story, and one in which it still felt like I was the "main character".  I love it, to the point I'd say it's one of my favorites of HC and even the original run's late-made stories that I've done. Of course, I saved the Rogue one for second because I'm more of a "Rogue" kinda guy, so maybe I'll be right and that'll be even better, but if so, cool beans.

 

2. On that note, there seem to be a lot of branches, that's cool.  It's interesting enough that I can see myself wanting to play it on multiple characters.  Earning alignment points as I go was a nice touch too.  I accidentally picked the "wrong" ending for the character I was playing on, though it sounds like there's...more to the arc than meets the eye.  I'll have to try it again on another character, maybe.  I am a little curious, based on comments in this thread, it seems the arc's a little different from Ouroboros (makes sense!), but if so, is the first Ouro run going to look like the "did it at the natural level" arc?  Or is it gonna be different from the start?  If the latter, I might encourage this to have its level cap raised.  I'm pretty sure all the villain groups from it go to 50 anyway.

 

3. I was playing a character of the Science origin, and after the first mission, there was an origin-based option to talk to the doctor about his research.  Not sure if all the origins have this or not.  He gave his justification and whatnot, and yeah, seems well-enough-written and whatnot, but I noticed that there was another option a little further down where he basically went through his reasoning a second time (his examples were different, but it sounded very repetitive).  I think it's the one about the kind of experiments?  Yeah, I mighta been reading a little too fast.  Regardless, this could maybe stand be streamlined a little?

[holymittens]

Quote

1. Let me start off by saying the writing felt spot-on.  This was a real "City of Heroes" story, and one in which it still felt like I was the "main character".  I love it, to the point I'd say it's one of my favorites of HC and even the original run's late-made stories that I've done. Of course, I saved the Rogue one for second because I'm more of a "Rogue" kinda guy, so maybe I'll be right and that'll be even better, but if so, cool beans.

 

Thanks! Always appreciate people who enjoy my writing.

 

Quote

I am a little curious, based on comments in this thread, it seems the arc's a little different from Ouroboros (makes sense!), but if so, is the first Ouro run going to look like the "did it at the natural level" arc?  Or is it gonna be different from the start?  If the latter, I might encourage this to have its level cap raised.  I'm pretty sure all the villain groups from it go to 50 anyway.

 

Spoiler

There are very slight differences between the first playthrough in Ouro and the first playthrough "naturally". It is intended functionality for players experiencing it in flashback the first time to have a slightly different experience. Playthroughs other than the 1st obviously can only be completed through Ouro.

 

Quote

I was playing a character of the Science origin, and after the first mission, there was an origin-based option to talk to the doctor about his research.  Not sure if all the origins have this or not.  He gave his justification and whatnot, and yeah, seems well-enough-written and whatnot, but I noticed that there was another option a little further down where he basically went through his reasoning a second time (his examples were different, but it sounded very repetitive).  I think it's the one about the kind of experiments?  Yeah, I mighta been reading a little too fast.  Regardless, this could maybe stand be streamlined a little?

 

There are two potential extra dialog options: one if you're a mutant, one if you're a science hero. They are slightly different in who the doctor uses in examples for each. There is some redundancy if you point out your origin and also ask him why he's doing this research (which is essentially the "generic" version of the challenges). I'll take a look at the tree and see if it makes sense to lock that out in certain cases.

[Molubdos]

9 hours ago, holymittens said:

  Hide contents

The Mender stands where Frostfire normally does. Can you try resetting the mission and trying again to see if he spawns?

 

Spoiler

Restarted the arc and he's still missing. Other than the additional dialogue from Marcus, was anything else supposed to change on the 3rd or 4th iterations? I may have missed a flag using the QA-Skips to get to the last mission on the later runs, in which case, my bad. Started a run with another character but ran into the "Team Leader" issue so will have to wait for the next patch.

With another character, I may have managed to sequence break a M1dway skip in the first run through via Ouro - as a Science origin character, going through the science tree, disagreeing with Stribbling, going through other dialogue, triggering the science tree again, then agreeing with him in the first report, he offered me the option to skip M1dway, even though it was the first run? (Although I did have to restart the arc upon entering the first mission after realising some AE weirdness had stuck to my character and broke temporal scaling)

Also, typo: "powes"
 

Spoiler

 

[holymittens]

14 hours ago, Molubdos said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Restarted the arc and he's still missing. Other than the additional dialogue from Marcus, was anything else supposed to change on the 3rd or 4th iterations? I may have missed a flag using the QA-Skips to get to the last mission on the later runs, in which case, my bad. Started a run with another character but ran into the "Team Leader" issue so will have to wait for the next patch.

With another character, I may have managed to sequence break a M1dway skip in the first run through via Ouro - as a Science origin character, going through the science tree, disagreeing with Stribbling, going through other dialogue, triggering the science tree again, then agreeing with him in the first report, he offered me the option to skip M1dway, even though it was the first run? (Although I did have to restart the arc upon entering the first mission after realising some AE weirdness had stuck to my character and broke temporal scaling)

Also, typo: "powes"
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

I'm going to DM you for additional details on the first issue. For the second one, you shouldn't be able to repeat the Science or Mutant paths in the first place, so I've fixed that. Hopefully whatever was causing the sequence break will keep that issue from coming up again.

[Voltor]

Took the submarine to port oakes and ended up under the map, using mission transporter brought me to the mission door.

[Voltor]

Ran the arc a few times, very well written and fun. 

 

Mission 1:  got the hero alignment point

 

Mission with the hacker: chose the option to knock him senseless got Vigilante point

 

Talk to longbow and fight them and received Villainous alignment point

 

When talking to Thystle, chose options to threaten her and got another villain point.    I sense this is where I am failing the badge and that there is a rogue option in the dialog

 

Final mission: talked peacefully to the kid, let him, Hero point. 

 

No badge, yet.

 

EDIT: Oh yes this mission is bugged.    After some chat options, I still get the villain alignment point and Miss Thystle doesn't leave the map she just collapses to the ground, if that happens you can talk to her again and again and again and go through the dialog options. I didn't get any alignment point from her, but when I discovered I could speak to her again despite the exit button being available, I still was able to get the villain alignment point.......after getting Villain alignment point from fighting the longbow

 

Ran the arc a few more times,  went through the chat options with Longbow and Thystle, both of them each award a Villain alignment point.   That doesn't feel right, as I recall the alignment system on live was  Hero --- Vigilante --- Villain --- Rogue --- Hero

 

So that being the case and the last mission can award a hero alignment point if you choose correctly, then I think the mission with Miss Thystle is bugged, or else I am missing something in the dialog options.

Edited April 11, 2023 by Voltor

[GM Impervium]

There aren't any "Rogue" options, because Vigilantes are unable to aqcuire Rogue alignment points.

 

Also, those choices are only for flavor. The only choices that truly matter to get the badge is having made all possible choices at the very end (Let Marcus go, send Marcus to the lab, arrest Marcus, kill Marcus). Then run the arc a fifth time to get a new option, which will unlock the badge.

[Voltor]

2 hours ago, GM Impervium said:

There aren't any "Rogue" options, because Vigilantes are unable to aqcuire Rogue alignment points.

 

Also, those choices are only for flavor. The only choices that truly matter to get the badge is having made all possible choices at the very end (Let Marcus go, send Marcus to the lab, arrest Marcus, kill Marcus). Then run the arc a fifth time to get a new option, which will unlock the badge.

 

Ah, then I happily stand corrected. However the fact that you can still talk again and again to Thystle after the mission ends feels like a bug

[GM Impervium]

Yeah, that part is definitely a bug and needs looking at!

[holymittens]

2 hours ago, Voltor said:

 

Ah, then I happily stand corrected. However the fact that you can still talk again and again to Thystle after the mission ends feels like a bug

 

Yep, that is indeed a bug. Thanks for catching it!

[Voltor]

2 hours ago, holymittens said:

 

Yep, that is indeed a bug. Thanks for catching it!

You're welcome, also the Freak boss in that mission can be skipped, not sure if that is W.A.I. or a bug

[Voltor]

Another problem: just got to Marcus,  now I am seeking the Arrest ending.  I have done the others.   However it is bugged and in a loop where he and I both remember the other encounters but any dialog option I choose just loops us back to the dialog options over and over. No fight occurs.

 

Logged out and returned, same problem.   it seems that choosing the option to kill him on the previous run was an error.  The only option that my alt needs to do is arrest him now but I can't.  The dialog box shows I did all the other options and that perhaps the Zig.....then it switches to Marcus talking.   Any option I choose just flips me back to the choices.  Cannot proceed.

[holymittens]

55 minutes ago, Voltor said:

Another problem: just got to Marcus,  now I am seeking the Arrest ending.  I have done the others.   However it is bugged and in a loop where he and I both remember the other encounters but any dialog option I choose just loops us back to the dialog options over and over. No fight occurs.

 

Logged out and returned, same problem.   it seems that choosing the option to kill him on the previous run was an error.  The only option that my alt needs to do is arrest him now but I can't.  The dialog box shows I did all the other options and that perhaps the Zig.....then it switches to Marcus talking.   Any option I choose just flips me back to the choices.  Cannot proceed.

 

Yeah, choosing to kill him prior to the 4th run through is currently bugged and he never goes hostile. This will be fixed in a patch in the near future.