Have contacts NOT put you into their arc until you've chosen arc's first mission

[Hedgefund]

This seems to be an old school hero contact issue, for the most part (I'm sure there are some redside) but let's take Janet Kellum for example.  I just did the introductory mission, not a part of any arc, when I went back to turn it in, I choose the "Ask about available missions" option and saw two options, the first the usual hunt, the second option was for the "On the Run" arc.  I decided I did not want to take on that arc so I just selected leave.  Later when I looked at my contact list I had the story book icon beside Kellum and I was in the arc.  

 

So, my suggestion is that you only put someone in the arc when the first mission of an arc is chosen, not when it simply becomes available.

[Hedgefund]

7 minutes ago, UltraAlt said:

 

 

 

The storybook doesn't make it an arc.

The arc is all the contact's missions. Regardless of which missions you do in the arc, once you get to the end of the arc you get the merits.

The storybook icon just means that the missions in that arc will still be available to you even if you outlevel the contact.

 

So yeah, as you said, you did the first mission in the contact's arc.

 

 

 

 

I did not say I did the arc's intro, I did the contact's intro, in other words the initial mission they provide.  

 

To be specific, what she offered me (and I completed) was this mission, which, as the Wiki page clearly shows, is not part of the "On the Run" story arc

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Janet_Kellum#Investigate_the_Crey_lab

 

That page details the missions that are part of the arc and the missions offered by Kellum that are not part of the arc.  

10 minutes ago, UltraAlt said:

The arc is all the contact's missions.

 

I'm emphasizing this point because this shows a fundamental lack of understanding of most contacts and their story arcs.  You can look at almost any contact, they'll have a story arc and they'll have a "Missions" section which are not part of any story arc.  I showed you Janet Kellum's above.  Here are others for you to familiarize yourself with:

 

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Tina_Macintyre has "The Anti-Matter Collision / The Instant Army" and "Missions" which are not part of that arc.

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Unai_Kemen has "To Save a Thousand Worlds" and "Missions" which are not part of that arc.

 

I could go on but I'll let you look up other contacts to see.  There are some examples that don't follow this pattern, Levantera for one example, all missions are part of her arc.  If I do her first mission, then I'm in her arc.  Kellum though, has non-arc missions, which I'll say again.

 

 

 

[srmalloy]

41 minutes ago, Hedgefund said:

You can look at almost any contact, they'll have a story arc and they'll have a "Missions" section which are not part of any story arc. 

Another example is Athena Currie/Everett Daniels. They have some random missions -- curb the Clockwork assaults in Steel Canyon, test the EMP Glove against the Clockwork, rescue the scientists, stop the Clockwork robot production -- but it isn't until they offer 'clean out the Clockwork warehouse' that the 'Clockwork Captive' arc starts; until you get offered that mission, you don't get the yellow book icon. Once you get the icon, they'll keep offering missions in that story arc, even if you outlevel them -- they'll stop offering the random missions, though.

 

If this does get changed so that you don't get the icon until you actually take the first mission in the arc, I would recommend that taking the mission, then abandoning it, leaves the icon up; it occupies a story arc slot, but it mimics the way it works now where you can do a contact's random missions until they offer the arc, then go away and do other content without losing the arc and having to go to Ouro to do it in Flashback; characters with limited DPS output might want to deliberately outlevel an arc, and your options for that in Ouro are limited.

[Rudra]

2 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

The arc is all the contact's missions.

This is not actually true. Each contact that has an arc, because not all contacts have arcs, have a set group of missions that forms their arc and then several other missions that are there as filler to give players something to do from the contact and give players a stream of xp to level with. Now, for some contacts, their arc missions are given in random order between the arc's assigned first and last missions, and that may lead to the perception you seem to have. However, only those missions that are part of the arc, and thus grant the storybook icon, are actually part of the arc. That is also why you can finish an arc, get the merits, and still have missions available from that contact.

[Greycat]

1 hour ago, UltraAlt said:

 

Yes. That is part of their arc.

 

No, it isn't. Not as a general rule, in any case.

 

Someone like Keith Nance? Yes. You take a mission from him, you're on the arc. He only *has* one arc, then passes you to Jenny Adair, who also only has one arc.  However, others will offer multiple missions.

 

Like so:

 

First time I talked to Jose Escalante. Neither of those will start you on an arc. They're one off missions. This is this contact's intro.  None will give you merits or (if they show up while an arc is underway) count towards completion of said arc.

 

The ones that will start an arc? Will (typically, I can' tthink of ones that don't do that) have the arc title above the mission.

 

 

[Rudra]

7 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

 

The original poster uses the term "arc" and not "story arc".

 

Easy enough to refer to https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Story_Arc

 

I have never bothered on the "fine" definition of "story arc" or that players were using "arc" to mean "story arc".

I have and still do consider the missions from the start of the contact to the end of the contacts mission (without out leveling) to be their complete "arc". There may be a "story arc" within that "arc". 

If there is another word to use for the missions given "from start to finish on contact", I don't know what that is. I see searching in wiki that there is no "arc" listed and only "story arc".  Regardless of "story arc" or not, I'm still doing a series of missions for the contact which I considered to be their "arc" and that there could be "story" (the book) within that arc. 

Honestly, I never really bothered or worried about the "book" icon showed up or not.

My personal approach to that, is that the available missions from a contact are that contact's missions or content, whereas the story arc, if the contact even has one, is the arc. Just like I'll call a defeat all a kill all, it is shorter but just as valid to me. Not saying you're wrong. I appreciate the explanation. Just giving my take on the terminology.

[macskull]

10 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

btw, your first posts say "arc" and not "story arc".

facepalm

 

That’s the same damn thing.

Edited August 17, 2023 by macskull

[RikOz]

On 8/17/2023 at 3:39 AM, UltraAlt said:

Honestly, I never really bothered or worried about the "book" icon showed up or not.

One problem with the book icon appearing is that, once it appears, you can't get the damned contact off your contact list without completing the arc. There are some story arcs I either don't care for, or I feel a particular character is not well-suited to, so I don't want to do that arc. But I forgot that a particular contact offered that particular arc, so I did their non-story intro mission, and now I've got that book icon, and the contact cluttering my contact list forever.

 

Bad enough that First Ward contacts are auto-introduced and never go away unless you do the First Ward/Night Ward stories.

[srmalloy]

33 minutes ago, RikOz said:

...and now I've got that book icon, and the contact cluttering my contact list forever.

Not only does the contact clutter up your contact list until you complete their arc, the fact that you've got an open arc with them takes up a slot in the maximum number of open arcs you can have.

[RikOz]

17 minutes ago, srmalloy said:

Not only does the contact clutter up your contact list until you complete their arc, the fact that you've got an open arc with them takes up a slot in the maximum number of open arcs you can have.

Also true, though not typically an issue for me, as my playstyle is "one arc at a time".

[Rudra]

50 minutes ago, RikOz said:

One problem with the book icon appearing is that, once it appears, you can't get the damned contact off your contact list without completing the arc. There are some story arcs I either don't care for, or I feel a particular character is not well-suited to, so I don't want to do that arc. But I forgot that a particular contact offered that particular arc, so I did their non-story intro mission, and now I've got that book icon, and the contact cluttering my contact list forever.

 

Bad enough that First Ward contacts are auto-introduced and never go away unless you do the First Ward/Night Ward stories.

I very much agree with this. While most of my characters will hit up as many contacts as possible, there are specific story arcs I avoid because they make no sense for that character to do. And just seeing the start mission for a story arc on that contact's mission list, not even selecting it for anything, just it being listed there at all, means now I have that story active on a character that will not be doing the story. And like @srmalloy said, since we can't get rid of it except by doing it, that is an available story arc slot gone until we decide to just do the arc despite not wanting our character to be involved in it.

[The Chairman]

On 8/17/2023 at 4:53 PM, macskull said:

facepalm

 

That’s the same damn thing.

 

Remember, this is the same guy who thinks people who play at 50+ aren't playing the game.

[srmalloy]

On 8/21/2023 at 10:00 AM, Rudra said:

And like @srmalloy said, since we can't get rid of it except by doing it, that is an available story arc slot gone until we decide to just do the arc despite not wanting our character to be involved in it.

Well, not entirely, although you're sacrificing significantly to do it — burn your once-every-three-days 'complete this mission' for each successive mission in the arc until it's complete, but that's not always possible, as there are arcs that have missions you can't do that with.

[Rudra]

6 minutes ago, srmalloy said:

On 8/21/2023 at 11:00 AM, Rudra said:

And like @srmalloy said, since we can't get rid of it except by doing it, that is an available story arc slot gone until we decide to just do the arc despite not wanting our character to be involved in it.

Well, not entirely, although you're sacrificing significantly to do it — burn your once-every-three-days 'complete this mission' for each successive mission in the arc until it's complete, but that's not always possible, as there are arcs that have missions you can't do that with.

That just takes longer to get rid of it. As far as the game is concerned, and what shows on your character for having done. your character still shows as having done that arc. You just don't get any of the rewards from doing the missions.

 

Edit: Another option for the OP? Is if we could get an "Abandon Arc" button to drop any stories that are flagged as started. Though that may not be possible....

Edited August 23, 2023 by Rudra