Mission Architect gameplay

Friday I ran in a MA arc that Margie wrote (still under development, formal release TBA). I found it very interesting the amount of control the MA system provided, and the ability it gives the creative mission writer to create not just new content, but types of stories. (I may be prejudiced, but Margie’s carnie (not Carnie) arc was just plain fun, as well as being interesting.)

After that, we tried another mission picked at semi-random (search for 4 or 5 stars, few grades). This one (I didn’t note the number, but it mentioned “Dragonettes” in the text) featured a custom group, the Geishas, which were nicely constructed — they looked good, provided a challenge, were interesting. The final mission / encounter, though, turned out to be too hard at our level — insufficient control and DoT for our Lvl 21 duo to get either of the bosses down.

That, in turn, inspired me to write up a quick arc (Lvl 37-50, not yet formally released), which Margie was gracious enough to go through with me a couple of times over the weekend, playing one, then another of our Lvl 50 duos. 

There are still some awkward bits to crafting an adventure — how to make the last glowie give you the clue, how to have EvE battles not trigger so early, how to have anything not trigger so early. It’s also way too easy to drown players in text (a weakness of mine in all circumstances).

Plus, if you test the mish pre-published, you don’t get any inspiration drops. That can be a serious disadvantage.

I think I’ve got it decently polished — one more test, and I’ll officially publish it.

Last night I did some PUGging at the Architect with Miss Crackle, my Lvl 40 Electrical Blaster. The first encounter was against … frogs? Horrible, powerful, frog gangs down in the sewers. It was conceptually awesome, and waaaaay overpowered.

After that, the team leader (well, the new team leader) chose a mission attacking a group of women warriors, “Amazons,” on the skinny city map. We plowed through them, not much challenge.

We did the mission again, set to Boss level. And … plowed through them, with a bit more difficulty, a bit more slowly, but for a lot more XP.

Then we … did it again. Which I’d not realized going in (the introductory interface for MA mishes if you are not the team leader is not very helpful), but it was a little different team makeup, so we plowed through it again.

Yes, I found myself farming Amazons. I hang my head.

It was (a) great XP, (b) not at all fun after, oh, about a third of the way into the second mish. If I’d realized that was the plan, I would have dropped before the third mish; once in, though, I wasn’t going to quit the team.

Not that the mish was a piece of cake — nearly everyone died at some point or another, mostly because the tanks kept rounding up bigger and bigger mobs. But half-way through that last mission I realized something that made these guys cannon fodder: no ranged attacks. I could hover over them and just rain death from above and be absolutely safe. Indeed, at one point, there was just me and one of the tanks (the better one) still up. No problemo.

So, yes, it’s possible to create farming missions using the MA.. Not trivial farming missions, to be sure, but still, XP farms. Sort of “The Most Dangerous Catch.” (Do you incur debt in MA mishs?)

It’s also, if you’re not doing that, quite possible to make impossibly difficult missions. Indeed, I think the biggest weakness of most beginning mission authors is overdoing stuff — too many mobs, too many bosses, too high level, too many clickies, too much everything. A more balanced, nuanced approach is something one has to learn.

Oh, last evening? Katherine, at 8, wrote her own mission (also TBA once tested). She was very jazzed.

Thumbs up on Mission Architect. It both provides an opportunity for added creativity in the CoX world, and teaches respect for the professionals who have written decently balanced missions for the “real” game.